Insights > Entergy System Hurricane Ida Update – 9/3/21 @ 9 a.m.

Entergy System Hurricane Ida Update – 9/3/21 @ 9 a.m.

By: Corporate Editorial Team

09/03/2021

Entergy has released preliminary estimated times to complete power restoration for those customers affected by Hurricane Ida. Five days after Ida made landfall, Entergy has restored 225,000 of the nearly 950,000 customers who lost power due to the storm. The preliminary estimates for restoration reflect completion dates, but service to many customers will be restored before these dates.

Restoration continues where it is safe to do so and where power can be received.

The preliminary estimated times of restoration are for customers in affected areas. Many of these areas are already having their power restored. Some individual cases may take longer due to unique circumstances.

These are general descriptions of Entergy’s local network. Cities and towns within those networks in some cases will see power earlier than those dates.

Specific restoration times down to the local area, including the coast and areas in the immediate path of the storm, are continuing to be developed and will be released in the coming days.

These estimates are subject to change as we complete our assessments and continue with restoration work in the affected areas. We will issue updates to these estimates as we learn more.

These estimated times of restoration should help customers better plan and prepare for the coming days, and for those in the hardest-hit areas, weeks ahead.

Entergy is providing backup generation and restoring power to a number of critical-service providers, including hospitals and wastewater facilities. The company also is working individually with large industrial customers, including refineries and manufacturing facilities, to coordinate their restoration.

Damage and Restoration Information

Outage information as of 7 a.m. includes:

Distribution system damage in Louisiana and Mississippi at 7 a.m. included 14,527 poles, 17,454 spans of wire and 3,277 transformers damaged or destroyed.

Of the 224 affected transmission substations, 106 have returned to service as of 4 p.m. Thursday, as well as 82 of 211 affected transmission lines. More than 1,380 miles of transmission lines remain out of service.

Due to outage volume and post-storm assessment status, our View Outages map may temporarily show discrepancies.

• This is due to a data error that we are working to correct as quickly as possible. In the interim, restoration updates are being provided in the red alert banner at the top of the map.
• However, this error is not impeding our knowledge of customer outages or slowing down our restoration. In the interim, restoration updates are being provided in the red alert banner at the top of the map.
• Customers can now visit entergy.com/hurricaneida for the latest restoration times by affected area.
• Red/green lines do not indicate power status to a specific address. To learn status of your address, check your account by logging into myEntergy or the mobile app, or register for text alerts and text STAT.
• The area view provides the most reliable and informative information available during damage assessment following large outage events such as storms. For those with difficulty distinguishing colors, please follow the key for shading which depicts the number of customers out.

Restoration is a methodical process. While crews are working in all areas, those with the least amount of damage will be restored sooner. Some customers without power may notice that the electric system in their immediate area has been repaired or appears to be in good condition.

Transmission lines that received major damage may need to be fully reconstructed in parts. Once the transmission lines are flowing electricity into the city’s substations, then power can flow through the distribution lines to homes and businesses that are able to accept power.

• We also will reconfigure our electricity delivery system where feasible to return power to some customers more quickly. Once repairs are completed, we will return the system to normal configuration.
• Although the power grid in southeast Louisiana will lack the redundancies that are in place when the transmission system is in full operation, Entergy Louisiana’s engineering and operations teams will follow a plan that will maintain the stability of the system.
• We’re committed to being there for our customers – especially after a disaster. In addition to restoring power to areas hit by Hurricane Ida, we’ve compiled a list of available critical service providers and resources available to you.

Despite the significant logistical challenges and accessibility issues in some of the hardest-hit areas, our team continues assessing impacted infrastructure in Louisiana. Assessments will continue over the next few days but that may be extended for the more extensively damaged areas in the state.

The next days and weeks will be difficult for our region, but our workforce is here to lead the recovery, working until the last light is turned on.

Click here for Hurricane Ida Damage and Restoration Photos

Click here for Hurricane Ida Videos

We understand recovering from Hurricane Ida that can be very frustrating for you. The storm has passed, yet power outages remain as we continue our restoration. We know you want to know when your power will be restored.

• We understand how difficult it is to wait for power so you can get your lives back to normal. We ask for your patience as we rebuild damaged infrastructure, including poles, wires, substations and major lines.
• Our work must take place in a certain order, determined by a restoration plan that considers how electricity flows to your neighborhood and prioritizes critical customers like hospitals. Trucks and workers will return to your area as soon as possible to complete the restoration work.
• We will provide regular updates on our progress. Stay in touch through the news media, social media, our smartphone app, text messages and stormcenter.entergy.com, direct-to-customer outage updates and 1-800-9OUTAGE (1-800-968-8243).
• If you don’t see us working near you, keep in mind that we may be working on another part of the electrical system that you can’t see but is needed to get power to you.
• We do not base our restoration plan on customers’ locations or their business history with us. Customers should report an outage only once. Making multiple reports for the same outage will not affect restoration times and ties up our phone lines unnecessarily.

For our industrial customers, restoration priority is to power critical community services such as fire, police, hospitals and water and communication services. As we restore service to residential, commercial and industrial customers, we must do it in a way that balances the needs of our customers with the ability to support additional load as the system permits.

Our nearly 26,000 workers are helping assess damage and destruction across our territory and restoring service where it is safe to do so. They come from 40 states including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Customer Safety and Information

Customers with property damage may require special action to speed their restoration:

• If your property has water damage, turn off the electricity at either the main fuse box or circuit breaker. Don’t step in water to get to the fuse box or circuit breaker.
• Call a licensed electrician for advice when necessary. A licensed electrician’s inspection of your property’s electric wiring may be needed before Entergy can restore power to a home or business that has water damage from rain or flooding.

For customers without property damage:

• Property owners without hurricane damage should 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.

Call a licensed electrician for advice when necessary. Don’t step in water to get to the fuse box or circuit breaker.

Entergy 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.

Please do not reach out directly to our workers as they restore service. They are working very hard to restore power as safely and quickly as possible. Interacting with crews while they perform work can be a distraction that creates safety issues and disrupts their efficiency. (See the “Stay Informed” section below on how to get outage information).

Due to the recent devastation from Hurricane Ida, we are experiencing delays in receiving and processing payments sent to Entergy via USPS and other mail courier services. This is impacting all Entergy customers.

• We encourage all customers to make digital payments online to ensure payments are received and applied timely.
• Visit myEntergy.com for convenient digital payment options to avoid paying for postage, incurring late fees or experiencing service disruption.

Keep safety at the forefront of everything you do. If you see a power line down, treat it as though it were energized and report it to 1-800-9OUTAGE (1-800-968-8243).

Return home only when authorities advise and drive only on roadways and bridges declared passable.

Stay alert for natural gas leaks. If you smell natural gas, or if you hear a blowing or hissing noise, open a window and leave the area immediately. Do not operate electrical switches. More on gas safety is below.

When power is restored, look for electrical system damage. If you see sparks or broken or frayed wires, or notice the smell of hot insulation, turn off the electricity at either the main fuse box or circuit breaker. You may need a licensed electrician to assess your equipment and assure safety.

We continue to work with and receive support from local, state and federal officials to ensure our communities’ needs are met in this time of crisis.

Road closures, flooding and other accessibility challenges due to the storm continue affecting our ability to reach some areas of our territory and could delay restoration in those communities.

We are assessing damage as safely and quickly as we can. In harder to reach areas, we use advanced technology, such as infrared cameras, drones and satellite imagery to assess damage by foot, vehicles, airboats, high-water vehicles and helicopters. Even so, lack of access in areas like waterways and marshes could delay our damage assessment.

The greatest danger after this type of storm remains downed power lines and electrical equipment. If anyone sees a power line or electrical equipment on the ground or in the trees or bushes -- do not go near it! Call us at 1-800-9OUTAGE (1-800-968-8243).

Responding simultaneously to a major storm and COVID-19 could affect our response:

• Along with standard storm preparations, Entergy employees continue navigating the COVID-19 pandemic by taking additional steps. These include traveling separately if necessary, adjusting crew staging locations and greater use of drones.
• Due to the additional measures crews must take, restoration may take longer, especially where there are widespread outages. Additionally, crews will continue to practice social distancing and we ask that customers do the same. For their safety and yours, please stay away from work zones.

Entergy has taken severe weather precautions at our other nuclear plants due to Hurricane Ida.

• Entergy restored offsite power to Waterford 3 at 11:45 p.m. Aug. 31 and exited the notification of unusual event classification. Waterford 3 entered the unusual event, the lowest of four NRC emergency classifications, Aug. 29 when the station first lost offsite power. The onsite diesel generators performed as they were designed and powered the plant’s essential systems until offsite power was reconnected. The plant is no longer using those generators to provide power to essential systems.
• Restoring offsite power is a major step toward the plant’s eventual restart. Restart will depend on many factors, including regulatory approvals, so we are working methodically and cannot offer an estimated restart date at this time.

You should stay safe as we restore service outages caused by Hurricane Ida.

• There is no way to know if a downed line is energized or not, so if you see one, keep your distance and call 1-800-9OUTAGE (1-800-968-8243).
• Stay safe and away from downed power lines and flooded areas. Do not walk in standing water and do not venture into areas of debris, since energized and dangerous power lines may not be visible. Be cautions when clearing limbs or downed vegetation as it could hide electrical hazards.

Some customers without power may choose to use a portable generator.

• If customers choose to use a generator, they should buy one only from a reputable dealer who can service and maintain the unit.
• Customers should always use portable electric generators in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.
• A gasoline engine usually powers stand-alone generators. Customers should use them only in well-ventilated areas. Never use a generator indoors as carbon monoxide from the exhaust is deadly.
• If the generator has panel-mounted electrical receptacles as part of the unit, appliances may be plugged directly into the generator.
• Customers must never connect a generator directly to a building’s wiring without a licensed electrician disconnecting the house wiring from Entergy’s service. Otherwise, it can create a safety hazard for the customer or Entergy’s workers working to restore power. And it may damage the generator or the house wiring.
• Customers should use a licensed electrician to install the necessary equipment should they decide to wire a generator into their home wiring. The equipment should include a switch to transfer the power source between Entergy and the generator.
• The generator should be properly sized for the expected load. For example, a 3-kilowatt generator will produce 3,000 watts. This is enough power for a 1,200-watt hair dryer and a 1,600-watt toaster, with some power left over for a few light bulbs. Customers should plan for additional needs when sizing their generator.
• Customers should consider a generator’s noise pollution as part of their buying decision. The noise may be obtrusive to neighbors without power.
• Commercial customers should consult with an independent engineer or electrician to size the generator, modify wiring and provide for automatic transfer of power during an outage.
• Customers should consult with suppliers, vendors and local electrical utility companies about required permits before starting any work in a home or business.
• Restoration workers who discover a generator attached directly to Entergy’s system will work with the customer to disconnect the generator. As a last resort, the restoration worker will disconnect the customer’s service connection to Entergy, which may take an extended time to reconnect due to the extensive restoration effort underway.

For our natural gas customers:

• Stay alert for natural gas leaks. If you smell gas or hear a blowing or hissing noise, open a window and leave the area immediately. Do not use an open flame, operate electrical switches, use telephones (corded or mobile) or other electronic devices. Call the gas company from a nearby building and don’t re-enter until it’s safe to do so. Click here for more gas safety tips.
• In flooded areas, a steady stream of bubbles on the surface of the water may be evidence of a gas leak. In areas that are not flooded, blowing dirt or dead grass and plants near a gas line may be evidence of a leak, in addition to the easily detectable smell and a hissing sound.
• Please do not attempt to turn on or off your natural gas valve.

Help for Those Affected by Hurricane Ida

• Even as our crews work to restore power to communities impacted by Hurricane Ida, we have mobilized to provide additional support for co-workers, customers, friends and neighbors who have suffered losses in this devastating storm.
• As an American Red Cross National Disaster Responder Member, Entergy Corporation made a $500,000 commitment to enable the organization to effectively respond to storms and disasters.
• Red Cross volunteers are working very closely with the entire response community – government agencies, other non-profit groups, faith-based organizations, area businesses and others – to coordinate emergency relief efforts and get help to people as quickly as possible.
• The work is just beginning. The Red Cross is using financial donations to help people recover and get back on their feet in the challenging weeks and months ahead. You can help by joining us in donating at redcross.org.

Powering Your Medical Needs

• When outages strike, we work hard to restore power as safely and quickly as possible to all customers. But we can’t guarantee continuity of service or priority in restoration, and unplanned outages can’t be completely avoided.
• For areas hit hardest by Hurricane Ida, customers should take action for the safety of their special-needs family members by relocating them to a safe area, securing a back-up source of power such as a generator or employing battery back-ups for needed portable machines.
• The communities in our service area are prone to damaging hurricanes, tornadoes and ice storms. If your household depends on life-support or other medical equipment, it’s important prepare for unplanned, extended outages.
• If your medical needs require electricity, we’ll work with you to minimize the impact of a power outage and help develop a plan of action should an outage affect you. This support is reserved for customers who have a ventilator in use in their homes 24 hours a day; have a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) in use in their homes 24 hours a day or have residents in their homes who are on hospice care.
• You can discuss the need for such a plan with your physician.
• More information is available here.

Stay Informed

Customers may experience delays when calling our telephone centers, especially from unaffected areas, due to overloading of the system with outage calls. We encourage customers to use these other means to interact with us during restoration:

• Download our free app for your smartphone at entergy.com/app.
• Sign up for text alerts by texting REG to 36778 and have your account number and ZIP code handy. The registration pattern is as follows including spaces: REG (account number) (ZIP code). Once registered, text OUT to 36778 to report an outage. You can also report an outage online as a guest.
• Follow us on Twitter.com/entergy or Facebook.com/entergy.
• Call us at 1-800-9OUTAGE (1-800-968-8243).
• Follow updates in your local news media, like radio, television and newspapers.

Transmission System Information

• The transmission system plays a critical role in delivering power from the power plant to the lines serving customers’ neighborhoods. The damage from Hurricane Ida has eliminated much of the redundancy built into the transmission system, which makes it difficult to move power around the region to customers.
• The transmission system is the backbone of the electric grid and helps Entergy move energy from the power plant to the lines serving customers’ neighborhoods. Without these lines in service, it makes it difficult to move power across the system to customers in affected areas.
• If the grid and the flow of power were compared to our highway system, transmission lines would be the interstates, substations would be the off-ramps, and distribution lines would be the streets and roads that lead to homes and businesses.
• While these transmission structures are being repaired, engineering and operations groups are working closely, along with our reliability coordinator MISO, to ensure the safe and stable operation of the electric grid.
• Restoration crews will continue working in parallel to restore substations and the distribution system that feed homes and businesses. The company is also aggressively exploring other opportunities to flow power into New Orleans by enabling generators located in the area to begin producing electricity without the need for a transmission source to provide start-up power.
• The transmission structure that supports a 500,000-volt line weighs roughly 40,000 pounds. Transporting just one requires three 18-wheeler trucks. For comparison, one 18-wheeler can transport about 50-100 distribution poles.

Restoration Process

Essential services such as hospitals, nursing homes, fire and police departments, and water systems are at the head of the restoration list, along with our equipment that supplies electricity to large numbers of customers.

Then we will concentrate our resources on getting the greatest number of customers back the fastest.

We can’t use our bucket trucks until sustained winds are less than 30 mph, but we can still begin restoring service to customers by closing circuit breakers, rerouting power and other actions.

You may see trucks, other vehicles and workers lined up while we process them into our system, taking inventory of equipment and personnel and giving a complete safety orientation.

Repairs begin with major lines to the substations, then to the lines and equipment serving neighborhoods, businesses and homes.

Service lines to individual homes and businesses will be restored last because fewer customers are involved, and in the case of fewer outages spread over larger areas, it often takes more time to get power back on for them.

Significant flooding and other accessibility challenges due to the storm will affect our ability to reach some areas of our territory and could delay restoration in those communities.

Remember if you don’t see us working near you, we may be working on another part of the electrical system that you can’t see but must be repaired to get power to you.

Following a storm, we deploy scouts to assess damage. It may take several days before we know how long until power will be restored.

As safety is always the highest of priorities, and as we assess the damage, we’ll begin restoring service where it is deemed safe to do so.

We continuously learn and improve from storm experiences, including the record-breaking 2020 hurricane season.

• The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season was the busiest season ever recorded with 30 named storms. Entergy found itself in the cone of uncertainty for seven named storms during last year’s hurricane season. Five named storms hit Louisiana last year, making it the most active storm season ever for the state.
• We demonstrated our restoration ability last season by assembling large restoration workforces to quickly restore power to our customers.
• We are ready to take appropriate action before, during and after severe weather.
• Based on previous storm responses and annual storm exercises, we are constantly updating and improving our operations related to storm damage restoration.
• Operation: Storm Ready is our internal process of continuous planning, preparation and training. And an early step, when facing a storm, is to prepare to bring in extra personnel to support the effort.
• We have worked to storm-harden our system. From aggressive preventive maintenance programs to using steel transmission structures near the coast, elevating substations that might flood and installing “isolation” devices on lines to reduce outages, our goal is always to restore power safely and quickly.

We provide our workforce with food and shelter so that they can focus on the task at hand. Facing severe weather can be extremely challenging; we’re committed to minimizing the effects of a bad storm.

• Weather forecasts and computer models based on knowledge from past storms are used to predict the estimated number of customers without power and the number of days needed to restore power.
• Power is restored faster in areas with less damage. Some of the hardest-hit areas may take longer, which should be factored into your personal storm plan. Remember, safety first.
• Once the storm passes, we can fully assess the damage and will have more information to share.

Hurricane Ida Information

• Hurricane Ida made landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph before moving through Mississippi.
• Ida’s historic intensity brought a tremendous amount of damage across Louisiana and Mississippi. Because of the extent of damage and rebuilding required, the recovery will be difficult and challenging. Customers in the hardest-hit areas should expect extended power outages lasting for weeks.

Hurricane Ida Historical Comparison

• The nearly 950,000 Entergy customers affected by Hurricane Ida is second only to Hurricane Katrina’s 1.1 million who were left without power.
• Ida tied for fifth with several other storms for highest wind speed when making landfall in the United States, according to Colorado State University. It is behind the 1935 Labor Day storm, 1969’s Camille, 1992’s Andrew and 2018’s Michael.
• Ida’s blow to Louisiana on Sunday marked the first time in recorded history that a state received back-to-back hurricane seasons with a storm of 150 mph winds or more. Hurricane Laura hit Louisiana in 2020 with 150 mph winds.
• Ida is tied with Laura, 2004's Charley and storms in 1932, 1919, 1886 and 1856 for hitting the United States with 150 mph winds.
• Ida increased 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.

Hurricane Ida Information Hub

Click here for Hurricane Ida Damage and Restoration Photos

Click here for Hurricane Ida Videos

Tags

Louisiana  Mississippi  New Orleans  Storm Center  Hurricane Ida 

Corporate Editorial Team