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Insights > Hurricane Laura Restoration Update – 9/24/20 @ 9 a.m.
Hurricane Laura Restoration Update – 9/24/20 @ 9 a.m.
09/24/2020
Click here for estimated restoration dates for Southwest Louisiana
As of 8:30 a.m. Sept. 24, 2,176 outages were occurring in Calcasieu and Cameron parishes in Louisiana. down from a peak of approximately 93,000 outages in Southwest Louisiana. Over the course of the storm and restoration, the company has restored 447,834 individual outages in Louisiana as of 7 a.m. Sept. 24.
Entergy’s Hurricane Laura information website provides customers with storm restoration and recovery updates. Visit the site at entergy.com/hurricanelaura.
As of 8 a.m. Sept. 23, Entergy restoration workers have replaced 13,719 of 14,125 damaged distribution poles, 3,760 of 4,760 damaged transformers and replaced 29,475 of 29,831 damaged spans of wire, Lake Charles/Sulphur damaged distribution equipment replaced includes 10,594 poles, 3,000 transformers and 22,644 spans of wire.
For our transmission system, as of 8 a.m. Sept. 23, restoration workers have repaired or replaced 839 of 1,459 destroyed structures, 2,518 of 2,792 miles of damaged line and 302 of 316 damaged substations, Lake Charles/Sulphur damaged transmission equipment replaced includes 785 structures, 366 miles of line and 83 substations.
Customer Information
We understand the impacts of Hurricane Laura, on top of impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, have greatly affected our customers. We want you to know we are here to work with you on payment assistance, power restoration for rebuilding your homes and businesses, or to answer other questions you may have. Please call us at 1-800-ENTERGY (1-800-368-3749) Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. for assistance or visit: Payment Assistance.
Due to the significant storm damage in the Lake Charles and Sulphur areas, Entergy is estimating customer electric usage to be zero beginning Aug. 27 until meter reading can resume in that area. As always, you are never billed for usage when power is out. Once meter reading resumes, any usage identified on the meter will be billed at that time. Customers may receive a bill for power consumed prior to Aug. 27.
If your home or business is unable to receive power due to heavy storm damage, please call us at 1-866-557-4240, Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. If you don’t expect to reconnect power to your home or business prior to November 1, it may be beneficial to close your Entergy account so that you are not charged a minimum monthly amount.
If you’re enrolled in Level Billing or Equal Pay, your bill will include zero usage beginning Aug. 27, 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. Please call us at 1-800-ENTERGY (1-800-368-3749) Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
If you’re enrolled in a deferred payment agreement, your bill will include zero usage beginning Aug. 27, 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. Please call us at 1-800-ENTERGY (1-800-368-3749) Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
As a reminder, for those enrolled in Auto-Pay, if your situation has changed and you need to adjust your auto-draft option, please call us at 1-800-ENTERGY (1-800-368-3749) Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
For more information about your bill and payment options, visit: entergy.com/hurricanelaura/paymentoptions or call 1-800-ENTERGY (1-800-368-3749) Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Entergy has established detailed restoration dates for most customers in southwest Louisiana following Hurricane Laura’s landfall on Aug. 27. Residents can view these anticipated times here.
Just because power is available to a home or business does not mean power can be safely accepted. Residents should check for damage to the electrical equipment attached to their home or business and contact an electrician to make any needed repairs. For more information on what equipment is yours and what equipment is ours, visit entergy.com/hurricanelaura/home-repairs. If damage has been repaired by a qualified electrician, call 1-866-557-4240 between 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday – Friday, to generate a service reconnection work order.
If your home or business has been damaged beyond repair and you would like to close your Entergy account to avoid a minimum monthly bill, visit myEntergy.com or call 1-800-ENTERGY (1-800-368-3749).
Given the intensity of this storm and the additional need for our crews to follow COVID-19 precautionary measures. outage restoration will be extended in the hardest-hit areas and may be hampered by blocked access or other obstacles.
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 who have a new advanced meter installed can check to see if their power is restored by logging into myEntergy. View “My Usage” on the dashboard. Select “hourly view” to see their most recent usage which is updated every four to five hours.
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 service.
Responding to a major storm and COVID-19 could affect our response:
- Along with standard storm preparations. Entergy employees are navigating the COVID-19 pandemic by taking additional steps. These include traveling separately when possible. adjusting crew staging locations and increasing the 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.
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.
Unfortunately. we have seen an increase in attempts to scam our customers following Hurricane Laura.
- 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.
Customer Safety
You should stay safe as we restore service outages caused by Hurricane Laura.
- 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.
- We ask customers choosing to use portable electric generators help keep our workers safe and use a generator in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. A generator must never be connected 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 our linemen working to restore power. And it may damage the generator or the house wiring.
- 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.
Stay Informed
In addition to disruption of normal business operations. 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.
- Visit the Entergy Storm Center website and our View Outages.
- Follow us on Twitter.com/entergy or Facebook.com/entergy.
- Call us at 800-9OUTAGE (1-800-968-8243).
- Follow updates in your local news media, like radio, television and newspapers.
Storm restoration photos and videos
