La. energy company: Restoration after hurricane could take weeks
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 Entergy President and CEO Phillip May 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,” May said 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 shellshocked storm survivors on Saturday. Houma is roughly 55 miles southwest of New Orleans.
Among those in need was 26year-old Kendall Duthu of Dulac, who collected a container of red beans and rice, pulling over an Infiniti 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.”
South of Houma, splintered trees, swamped furniture and the wreckage of houses littered roadsides. In Ashland, La., 27-year-old Rene Gregoire Jr. stood outside his house, where windows blew out and water gushed in. It was the latest blow for the tugboat worker after badly hurting his wrist on the job, coming down with COVID-19, and his dog requiring a $3,000 surgery.
“It’s my home but I gotta find something new,” Gregoire said, pondering a move to Arizona with his girlfriend.
Some parishes outside New Orleans were battered for hours by winds of 100 mph or more.
As of Saturday morning, 97 percent of damage assessment was complete and power restored to about 282,000 customers from the peak of 902,000 who lost power after Ida.
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.
As recovery efforts continued Saturday, state officials were monitoring a system of disturbed weather in Mexico’s Bay of Campeche, which appeared set to move into the Central Gulf of Mexico closer to Louisiana.
Over 1,000 miles away, floodstricken families and business owners across the Northeast were hauling waterlogged belongings to the curb Saturday and scraping away noxious mud as cleanup from the deadly remnants of Hurricane Ida moved into high gear.
The sudden storm waters swamped homes, cars and businesses and killed at least 50 people in six eastern states.
The main foes during the massive cleanup: muck, mud and sewage.
“The sewer backed up into our basement and now we have to get it deep-cleaned,” said Dave Coughlin, one of many Cranford, N.J., residents busily engaged in dragging ruined possessions to the curb. He and his wife, Christina, were taking their two young children to stay somewhere else temporarily while the cleanup progressed.
“I don’t want them breathing this stuff in or smelling the bleach,” he said.