Louisiana struggles
Some areas told of weekslong wait for power to return.
HOUMA, La. — Full restoration of electricity to some of the hardest-hit areas of Louisiana battered to an unprecedented degree by Hurricane Ida could take until the end of the month, the head of Entergy Louisiana warned Saturday.
At least 16 deaths were blamed on the storm in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Ida damaged or destroyed more than 22,000 power poles, more than hurricanes Katrina, Zeta and Delta combined, an impact ç called “staggering.” More than 5,200 transformers failed and nearly 26,000 spans of wire — the stretch of transmission wires between poles — were down.
“The level of devastation makes it quite difficult or near impossible to get in and fully assess some places,” said May of five southeastern Louisiana parishes facing the longest delays. The company is estimating full power restoration by Sept. 29 or even longer for some customers, although May said that was a “no later than” date with the hope of earlier restoration.
About a quarter of New Orleans residents have had power restored, including all the city’s hospitals, and the city’s 27 substations are ready to serve customers, said Deanna Rodriguez, Entergy New Orleans president and CEO. Most customers should have power back by Wednesday, Entergy said.
One of the parishes facing long delays for power restoration is Terrebonne, where volunteers in the parish seat of Houma handed out ice, water and meals to storm survivors Saturday. Houma is roughly 55 miles southwest of New Orleans.
Among those in need was 26-year-old Kendall Duthu of Dulac, who collected a container of red beans and rice, pulling over a car with a shattered windshield to eat.
Duthu has been living in his car, with his girlfriend, since the storm hit. He was a cook at a jambalaya restaurant before the pandemic claimed that job. He was working at a car wash until that went away, too. Duthu, a diabetic, lost his house in the storm and doesn’t know what’s next.
“Next stop, I don’t really …” he said, trailing off. “We’ve just been living day by day.”
Houma’s Hancock Whitney Bank, itself badly damaged by Ida, has distributed about 42,000 meals since Tuesday, and many more bottles of water, said CEO John Hairston.
“Hurricanes are just a part of life,” he said. “Buildings come and go. We may be on a different block. But next storm, we’ll be here.”
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said the city would offer transportation starting Saturday to any resident looking to leave the city and get to a public shelter. It already began moving some residents out of senior homes.
In suburban New Orleans, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto urged people “to calm down” as he announced Saturday that a man wanted in the shooting death a day earlier of another man during a dispute in a line at a gas station was in custody.
LOWER MISSISSIPPI REOPENS
The Lower Mississippi River is now reopened to all vessel traffic in New Orleans and key ports throughout southeast Louisiana after Hurricane Ida, authorities said Saturday.
In a news release, Coast Guard Capt. Will Watson said the successful removal of several power lines that had blocked the waterway due to a downed transmission tower after the storm and a survey of the ship channel allowed the river to be “deemed open for all marine traffic.”
“The marine transportation system in this region connects our heartland’s harvest with global markets and provides vital energy supply to our nation. We continue to support the State of Louisiana as we collectively recover from the impacts of Hurricane Ida,” he said.
As of Friday, there were at least 23 inbound and two outbound vessels queued in the Mississippi River waiting the reopening, the Coast Guard said.
The U.S. Coast Guard also said Saturday that cleanup crews are responding to a sizable oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico following Hurricane Ida.
The spill, which is ongoing, appears to be coming from a source underwater at an offshore drilling lease about two miles south of Port Fourchon, La. The reported location is near the site of a miles-long brown and black oil slick visible in aerial photos first published Wednesday by The Associated Press.
So far, the growing spill appears to have remained out to sea and has not impacted the Louisiana shoreline. There is not yet any estimate for how much oil was in the water, but recent satellite images reviewed by AP on Saturday appeared to show the slick drifting more than a dozen miles eastward along the Gulf coast.
Coast Guard spokesman Lt. John Edwards said the source of the pollution is believed to be crude oil from an undersea pipeline owned by Talos Energy.
Brian L. Grove, spokesman for the Houston-based energy company, said it had hired Clean Gulf Associates to respond to the spill even though the company believes it is not responsible for the oil in the water.
Clean Gulf Associates workers have placed a containment boom in the area to mitigate further spread of the oil. The company’s vessels are also running skimmers that can remove oil from the water, though the Coast Guard said only about 42 gallons had been removed so far.
“Hurricanes are just a part of life. Buildings come and go. We may be on a different block. But next storm, we’ll be here.” Kendall Duthu