Insights > Entergy Louisiana Hurricane Francine update – 9/13/24, 9 p.m.

Entergy Louisiana Hurricane Francine update – 9/13/24, 9 p.m.

By: Louisiana Editorial Team

09/13/2024

Significant strides continue to be made as Entergy’s storm team safely restores power after Hurricane Francine. As of 9 p.m., power has been brought back to approximately 85% of the 300,000 customers who lost power and can safely receive it.

Entergy anticipates that 95% of all customers in Louisiana will be restored by tomorrow evening.

At this time, approximately 50,000 customers remain without power across southeast Louisiana, with most being in the coastal communities of Lafourche, Terrebonne and Assumption parishes that saw the strongest winds and rainfall.

Entergy New Orleans and Entergy Louisiana’s storm team has grown to over 8,000 workers, including scouts, lineworkers, tree trimmers and support personnel. They continue to work simultaneously to safely assess damage and restore power.

While no transmission structures were lost during the storm, 36 transmission lines and 13 substations were impacted. As of 4 p.m., only two transmission lines remained out of service.

Thus far, scouts found approximately 525 utility poles, nearly 125 transformers and over 900 spans of distribution wire damaged and in need of repair or replacement.

The geography of southeast Louisiana can present challenges for utilities, but our dedicated crews are utilizing every available tool to safely make repairs and restore power. Distribution poles are often located in marshes, swamps, rivers, heavily wooded areas and other hard-to-reach places. To overcome these obstacles, crews are using helicopters and drones to identify damage, airboats and marsh buggies to navigate waterways and rear-alley machines to access tight spaces in residential areas.

Estimated restoration times

While many customers will have power restored sooner, Entergy Louisiana expects to have most of its customers who can safely receive service restored by Sunday night. Entergy New Orleans expects to have most of its customers restored by Saturday night.

As of today, we have essentially restored service in the following parishes: East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Livingston, St. Charles, St. Tammany, and Washington. Essentially restored means that service has been restored to at least 95% of customers capable of safely receiving service.

Estimated restoration times will depend on the severity of the damage in each area. This is reflected in the parish-by-parish breakdown below. Coastal areas, including Assumption, Lafourche, and Terrebonne parishes, experienced some of the strongest winds, and restoration in these communities will take longer.

Make sure your home or business is ready for us to restore your power:

• We cannot restore power to a location with a damaged meter base, conduit or weather head (the metal pipe extending upward from the structure with electrical cables inside). They must be repaired by a qualified electrician before Entergy can restore power.
• If your property has any water damage, please turn off the electricity at either the main fuse box or circuit breaker.
  • Call a licensed electrician for advice when necessary. A licensed electrician may need to inspect your property’s electric wiring before Entergy can restore power to a home or business which has water damage from rain or flood waters.
• Even if you don’t have any property damage, you should still be cautious.
  • Look for electrical system damage once power is restored. If you see sparks, broken or frayed wires or the smell of hot insulation is noticeable, turn off the electricity at either the main fuse box or circuit breaker.

Here’s how you can stay up to date on our restoration efforts: 

• Download the Entergy app. Customers can use the app to report outages or check on the status of power at their home or business.
• Check Entergy’s View Outages Maps show where outages are located and give information about restoration progress.
• Follow us Facebook and X at @EntergyLA, @EntergyNOLA, facebook.com/EntergyLA and facebook.com/EntergyNOLA. Social media also plays an important role in keeping you informed, and we place a high priority on updating our social media channels throughout an event. 
• Text us: If you are signed up to receive our notifications, you can text OUT to 36778 to report an outage. To sign up for text messaging, go to myEntergy.com or by texting REG to 36778. Have your account number and ZIP code handy. The registration pattern is as follows including spaces: REG (account number) (ZIP code). 
• Visit the Entergy Storm Center The site has storm safety, preparation and restoration information that is updated throughout the day.
• Download the Operation: Storm Ready Guide. This guide will help you plan and prepare for weather emergencies. Information is also available in Spanish and Vietnamese.

Tags

Louisiana  Storm Center  Hurricane Francine 

Louisiana Editorial Team