NewsLocal NewsIn Your Parish

Actions

Crews continue to restore power to customers affected by Hurricane Laura

Posted at 3:02 PM, Aug 27, 2020
and last updated 2020-08-27 21:50:45-04

Power restoration in areas affected by Hurricane Laura is underway.

In Lafayette, LUS says that they estimate restoration for all customers by this Saturday, August 29. That date is baring any special circumstances.

If customers have medical conditions, LUS recommends that they have a backup plan for extended power outages. Customers should call in outages so it can be tracked in the LUS system for restoration.

"Our restoration process begins with repairs of transmission lines and substations, then work moves to main lines that serve critical facilities such as hospitals and then transformers that feed our residential customers. LUS and mutual aid crews will work to restore services to the greatest number of customers as soon as possible."

Currently at 1:30 p.m., approximately 9,500 LUS customers are without power.

An additional 60 mutual aid linemen and tree trimmers are arriving this afternoon from Alabama and Florida to support our efforts in restoring power to Lafayette.

To report an outage, call LUS at (337) 291-9200 or for downed power lines or power poles, call LUS at (337) 291-5700. Remember do not touch or drive over any fallen power lines.

SLEMCO says 53, 500 which is down from 78,000 on Thursday morning. They are focusing on the main lines and making sure they are repaired.

After, crews will go house to house to make sure that customers who are still out.

The power outages for SLEMCO has been widespread and have hundreds of crew members working to restore power. Those crews are from across the state and the country.

The hardest hit areas could see restoration either today or Friday depending on how electricity is provided to individual customers.

Entergy is continuing to assess damages and restore power where it is safe to do so after a devastating Hurricane Laura exited the state Thursday afternoon.

At its peak, Entergy says that Hurricane Laura knocked out power to approximately 280,000 customers with the hardest-hit areas in southwest and north Louisiana. As of 6 p.m. Thursday, approximately 256,000 customers were still without power.

Officials say that the storm caused significant damage to Entergy’s electrical system across the state. The most extensive damage was in the Lake Charles area causing major damage to transmission infrastructure, utility poles and powerlines.

By late Thursday, Entergy’s storm team in Louisiana had increased to nearly 10,000 with more crews on the way. While crews have faced accessibility challenges due to impassable roadways leading into Lake Charles, they have been able to inspect portions of the electrical system and perform some work in the field in areas east of Calcasieu Parish and in parts of north Louisiana.

Also hampering progress in Lake Charles Thursday was a chemical fire at a plant in the city of Westlake that forced road closures and increased drive times for some crews who were instructed to avoid the area for their safety.

Entergy will be using helicopters and drones to inspect damage to its transmission and distribution infrastructure. "Power must be restored to high-voltage transmission lines and substations in order to reenergize the distribution lines that serve businesses and homes."

Scouts will continue inspecting damages to the system in the coming days. As damage assessments are completed, crews will begin restoring power to critical infrastructure as well as putting together a plan to restore power to the largest number of customers the fastest.

Customers are asked to remain patien as crews work to repair and rebuild portions of the electrical system. Entergy says that it could take several days before they can provide estimated times of restoration and weeks before we restore power to the hardest-hit areas.

Crews will continue to practice social distancing while in the field due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Entergy asks that customers do the same. For the safety of crews and customers, please stay away from work zones. If there is a need to report a service problem, customers should call 1-800-ENTERGY.

CLECO

As of 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, Cleco crews have restored power to 31,205 customers. At the height of the storm, Hurricane Laura knocked out power to 140,000 customers, causing widespread, significant damage to Cleco’s electrical system.
Report power outages by calling 1-800-622-6537 or by texting “OUT” from your cell phone to 25326 (Cleco). To sign up for text message notifications, text “REG” to 25326.

Outage can be found here

------------------------------------------------------------
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.

To reach the newsroom or report a typo/correction, click HERE.

Download our free app for Apple,Android, Roku and Amazon devices.

Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox. Select from these options: Breaking News, Evening News Headlines, Latest COVID-19 Headlines, Morning News Headlines, Special Offers

Alexa's Daily Flash Briefing

Follow us on Twitter

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Instagram

Subscribe to our Youtube channel