BATON ROUGE, La. – After Hurricane Ida’s high Category 4 winds impacted southeast Louisiana and commanding the largest restoration workforce in company history, Entergy Louisiana, LLC has made power available to nearly all customers who can safely receive it outside some water routes and the hardest hit areas of Port Fourchon and Grand Isle.
Customers with damage to their homes’ electric equipment must make repairs before power can be restored. In addition, an electrician may be required on site at some commercial locations before Entergy can restore power.
“Restoring power following Hurricane Ida has been a monumental task, and we have the thousands of men and women who came from across the country to assist our teams locally to thank for bringing hope and a sense of normalcy to communities many of us call home,” said Phillip May, Entergy Louisiana president and CEO. “We know there’s still work to be done, but I want to assure customers that Entergy will be there for them, even long after the lights come back on. Together, we will rebuild, recover and come back stronger than before.”
A storm team of thousands from 41 states – more than 26,000 strong at its peak – has worked tirelessly to restore power quickly and safely to Entergy’s Louisiana customers. Ida made landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on Sunday, Aug. 29, causing widespread and devastating damage to the company’s electric infrastructure. The storm damaged more distribution utility poles than hurricanes Katrina, Ike, Delta and Zeta combined – more than any other the company has experienced.
Ida developed quickly, increasing 65 mph in the 24 hours before landfall, tying the record set in 2007 by Humberto for most rapid intensification in the day before landfall. At the peak, the historic storm knocked out power to approximately 697,000 customers in southeast Louisiana (number includes all impacted Entergy customers in Louisiana outside of Orleans Parish).
Crews made power available to 90% of Louisiana customers affected by Ida in just over two weeks. Work has taken place along highways and streets and within heavily wooded areas, marshes, swamps and bayous. A storm team will remain in southeast Louisiana to make additional repairs to the electric system and improve its resiliency. Crews expect that work to continue through the end of the year.
“On behalf of everyone here at Entergy Louisiana, I want to say thank you to the crews who came to support us and to our customers for being so patient as we worked to restore power following the storm,” May said.
Residents should check for damage to the electrical equipment attached to their home or business and contact an electrician to make needed repairs. For more information on what equipment is yours and what equipment is ours, visit entergy.com/weatherhead. If damage has been repaired by a qualified electrician, call 1-866-557-4240 between 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, to generate a service reconnection work order.
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