Insights > Entergy System Hurricane Ida Update – 9/8/21 @ 8:30 a.m.

Entergy System Hurricane Ida Update – 9/8/21 @ 8:30 a.m.

By: Corporate Editorial Team

09/08/2021

Our workforce has restored nearly 70% or 646,000 of the 948,000 total customers who lost power.

Restoration continues where it is safe to do so and where power can be received. Estimated times of restoration are available for affected areas of the company.

Visit our dedicated Hurricane Ida restoration website to get the most up-do-date estimated times of restoration.

Outage information at 6:30 a.m. includes:

After a hurricane passes, Entergy follows a power restoration plan that concentrates on getting service restored to essential customers first and then crews make repairs that will return service to the largest number of customers in the shortest period of time until power is restored for everyone.

As restoration progresses, our workforce is concentrating its efforts into successively smaller and more heavily damaged areas. As this logical progression continues, some workers, including company personnel, contract and mutual assistance workers, will be released to return to their home areas.

Our strategy for restoring the hardest-hit areas of our service territory is designed to ensure we have the right resources at the right time in the right places.

• For example, at the start of the event, we brought on more than 4,000 vegetation workers to help clear fallen trees, brush and debris. This was a necessary step before the critical work of restoring our transmission and distribution infrastructure could begin. In later phases of the restoration, we need a fraction of that workforce.

In New Orleans, we have restored 170,000 customers, including all hospitals, and a number of grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, hotels and restaurants.

• We also continue to restore residential neighborhoods. If your neighborhood has been restored and you are still without power, please check your electrical equipment.
• For information on how to check for damage and what to do next, click here. If your equipment is undamaged, and you do not have power, please notify us at 1-800-9OUTAGE (1-800-968-8243).

Of the 226 affected transmission substations, 201 have returned to service as of 4 p.m., Sept. 7, as well as 165 of 211 affected transmission lines. Approximately 515 miles of transmission lines remain out of service.

Distribution system damage in Louisiana and Mississippi included 30,679 poles, 36,469 spans of wire and 5,959 transformers damaged or destroyed. The number of poles damaged or destroyed is more than Katrina, Ike, Delta and Zeta combined.

More than 25,000 workers are restoring service across the areas affected by Hurricane Ida. As this logical progression continues, some workers, including company personnel, contract and mutual assistance workers, will be released to return to their home areas.

• As restoration advances, our workforce is concentrating its efforts into successively smaller and more heavily damaged areas. However crews remain restoring power in all affected areas until the last light is on.
• We continuously relocate resources that have completed restoration to areas where damage and outages remain. Then we ensure we provide them with the material, fuel and logistics needed to restore service as safely and quickly as possible.
• As our restoration workforce concentrates into a smaller area, some workers, including company personnel, contract and mutual assistance workers, are released to return to their home areas.

During storm restoration, we face many factors that affect rebuilding the distribution system. This is especially true as we replace the large number of damaged poles.

• No two poles are the same. Some poles are on the side of the road and easy to access with a large bucket truck. But not all pole replacements are that simple. Poles can be located in a backyard where our large bucket trucks can’t access, in swampy or wet areas or in wooded or off-road areas.
• Under normal circumstances, a standard residential neighborhood pole can be replaced in two to three hours if it’s located on the side of a road, or four to six hours if it’s in a more restricted access, rear-lot or alley.
• More information on pole replacement is available here.

Preliminary estimated restoration times have been communicated for all affected customers. Restoration times extend to no later than Sept. 29, even for the hardest hit communities. Estimates are subject to change, and we are exploring every option to expedite power restoration. Rest assured, we will not stop until the last light is back on in our communities.

Updated Outage/Restoration Information

Due to the magnitude of the damages caused by this storm affecting connectivity and other associated issues, we are experiencing technical difficulties that may lead to delays in power status available through our outage reporting tools, including the View Outages map, mobile app and texting “STAT” to receive your outage status.

As we work to restore our systems, we ask that if you are aware of an inconsistency between the reported status and power availability at a location, please notify us through one of the following options:

• Texting “OUT” to 36778. Using myentergy.com or our mobile app.
• Dialing 1-800-9OUTAGE (1-800-968-8243) to report your outage to the automated system or speak to a representative.

We are working to resolve these issues as quickly as possible.

Please ignore any message you may have received in error when texting “OUT” stating that your number would be removed from text notifications. If this occurred, you’ll have to resend a text with “OUT” to 36778. We apologize for any confusion.

Customers must have a registered myEntergy account to sign up for outage texting.

• If you were signed up for outage texting before we transitioned to the myEntergy portal last year, you must create a myEntergy account before re-registering for texting services.

If you attempt to register or report an outage via text and receive a message stating “Entergy: Unauthorized User” or a message stating “We’re sorry but this phone number isn't authorized for two-way texting. To register, please go to myentergy.com,” this means you don’t have an active myEntergy account.

To register for myEntergy, visit myentergy.com and select “Sign Up”. For added security purposes, the first time you log in to myEntergy, you will be asked to reset your username and password and confirm your account preferences.

• Once registered, you can text “REG” to 36778 to sign-up for outage texting. The registration pattern is as follows including spaces: REG (account number) (ZIP code).
• At that point you’ll be able to report an outage at your location by texting “OUT” to 36778.

View Outages is a visual representation of the state of the grid.

• The green and red lines are intended to provide users with indications that line segments are generally either energized or de-energized.
• However, as our crews restore power from events like Hurricane Ida it is important to understand that there is a high volume of switching activity that may result in data latencies impacting updates to View Outage Maps.
• View Outage Maps should not be relied upon for detailed planning purposes. For planning purposes, users should rely upon the location specific information provided by logging into their myEntergy account.
• Green lines indicate that the line segment is energized, or power is flowing. Red lines indicate that that line segment is de-energized, or no power is flowing.
• It’s important to note that while the main line may be energized, the map doesn’t show power flow all the way to the home. There could be damage or other issues between the energized line and the home such as transformers, down wires from the pole to the home or damage with the meter or within the location itself. The map relies on software to predict the location of outages; actual outages may vary from those predicted.
• Estimated restoration times are available on our dedicated Hurricane Ida restoration website. 

Our current workforce stands at more than 25,000. At its peak, our workforce numbered nearly 27,000 who came from 41 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, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

The number of poles damaged or destroyed from Ida is more than hurricanes Katrina, Ike, Delta and Zeta combined.

View Hurricane Ida Damage and Restoration Photos and Videos Here

Customer Safety and Information

We are suspending service disconnections and waiving late fees for non-payment for affected customers and offering flexible customer payment arrangements for those customers. Customers can visit myEntergy.com for more information.

We are mobilizing a variety of services and volunteer efforts across the region, including mobile customer information centers and cleanup efforts; coordinating with other industry and community partners on additional customer outreach and support efforts.

Customers affected by the storm will not receive disconnect notices, be assessed late fees or be disconnected due to a late payment posting. All Entergy customers can make payments and receive bills online. Entergy will receive and post payments.

On top of restoring power to your homes and businesses, we are here to work with you on payment assistance, arranging billing programs or answering other questions customers may have. Call us at 1-800-ENTERGY (1-800-368-3749) Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. for assistance or visit Payment Assistance.

For our level billing or equal pay: Your bill will include zero usage during the time your power is out; however, it will continue to reflect the previous 12 month’s rolling average usage. We understand that this payment amount may be a burden right now. We want you to know we are here to work with you on payment assistance.

If you are on a deferred payment agreement, your bill will include zero usage for the period your power is out; however, it will continue to reflect your agreed upon deferred payment amount. If you need additional bill payment assistance, we are happy to work with you.

For auto-pay customers, if your situation has changed and you need to adjust your auto-draft option, we can help.

Customers may receive automated billing payment reminders that processed prior to, and during, Hurricane Ida’s impact. During this period of restoration, customers in the impacted area will not be disconnecting due to non-payment.

Customers may receive an electronic or paper bill, this bill is for usage that occurred before Hurricane Ida. We have taken measures to ensure that we aren’t estimating usage based on historical information, while customers are without power.

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. Please click here for convenient digital payment options to avoid paying for postage.

Customers should keep in mind that just because power is available does not mean their home can safely accept it. 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.
• Customers with damage to their meter, meter pan or weatherhead will need repairs to those items prior to Entergy re-energizing their structure.

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.

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.

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.

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

• 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).
• 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 cautious when clearing limbs or downed vegetation as they 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.
• Click here for more generator safety tips.

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.

Infrastructure Hardening and Resiliency

• Our infrastructure hardening and resiliency investments help protect the electrical system from destructive weather and are developed to provide the best value to customers.
• While ensuring the resilience of our infrastructure has always been a primary emphasis, we must accelerate our efforts considering increasingly frequent and severe weather events. We will continue to refine our understanding of where the specific risks attributable to climate change are expected to become more severe in the years and decades ahead and focus our hardening efforts accordingly.
• Since the beginning of 2016, Entergy has completed $12.6 billion in transmission and distribution construction and other investments and will continue to make significant investments to continually repair and enhance the company’s infrastructure.
• We’ve spent approximately $1 billion in recent years upgrading plants and substations to new hardening standards following hurricanes.

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 https://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 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.

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.

We caution customers to be aware of unscrupulous attempts to swindle our customers during storm recovery.

• Entergy never demands immediate payment from customers over the phone. You shouldn't give your personal information to strangers.
• If a call sounds suspicious, hang-up and call 1-800-ENTERGY (1-800-368-3749) to speak directly with an Entergy customer service representative.
• If you believe you are a victim of this scam, notify the proper authorities, such as the local police or the state attorney general's office.

We remain in close coordination with local, state, federal and White House officials, along with our utility industry partners, to expedite storm response and power restoration efforts.

Across southeast Louisiana's unique landscape, Entergy's transmission system spans land, water and marsh. However, the teams are well experienced in this type of geography as well as managing and repairing infrastructure in these types of conditions. In many cases, special equipment will be used as we inspect, repair and replace the steel, concrete and tensioned wires that are the foundation for our structures.

Two of our nuclear facilities, Waterford 3 and River Bend, sustained property damage to outlying structures on the site. Offsite power to Waterford 3 nuclear station was restored Aug. 31. River Bend operated throughout the event.

In addition to making significant progress on restoring outages, Entergy has also worked closely with critical service providers to help eliminate any disruption to services as crews work to restore power.

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.

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.

• 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.
• It can be frustrating for you if you see trucks move away from an area before power is restored. Our work, however, must take place in a certain order, determined by a restoration plan that considers how electricity flows to your neighborhood and prioritizes critical customers. 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 entergystormcenter.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.

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.

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 southeast Louisiana and southwest 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

View Hurricane Ida Damage and Restoration Photos and Videos Here

Tags

Louisiana  New Orleans  Storm Center  Entergy System  Hurricane Ida 

Corporate Editorial Team