News Release > Entergy New Orleans and Entergy Louisiana Hurricane Ida Update – 8/29/21 @ 2 p.m.

Entergy New Orleans and Entergy Louisiana Hurricane Ida Update – 8/29/21 @ 2 p.m.

08/29/2021

Hurricane Ida has made landfall as a destructive and extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane, bringing with it life-threatening storm surge and catastrophic wind damage. Those in the hardest-hit areas could experience power outages for weeks. The National Hurricane Center warns of an extremely life-threatening storm surge inundation of 9 feet or greater above ground level between Burns Point, Louisiana and Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

Every storm is unique. Based on historical restoration times, customers in the direct path of a Category 4 hurricane can experience outages up to three weeks.

• While 90% of customers will be restored sooner, customers in the hardest-hit area should plan for the possibility of experiencing extended power outages.
• Once the storm passes, we will keep customers informed regarding restoration efforts.
• Significant damage, flooding and accessibility challenges due to the storm will affect our ability to reach some areas of our territory right away and could delay restoration in those communities.
• When restoration starts, keep in mind that 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.

We have storm-hardened our system and are prepared for Hurricane Ida.

• 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 ultimate goal is always to restore power safely and quickly.
• Additionally, crews have added flood protections for equipment in other areas that could see high water. High-water vehicles, rear-alley machines, marsh buggies, drones and helicopters have also been secured to assist in restoration efforts.

In addition to the company’s local workforce, Entergy Louisiana and Entergy New Orleans have requested mutual assistance. Workers from across the country will continue pouring into our area to help restore power following Ida. With the additional requested resources, the companies anticipate mobilizing a storm team of approximately 16,000.

• We will keep our restoration workforce safe and out of harm’s way until the storm passes. It will be several hours before we can move personnel into the affected areas to begin damage assessment and restoration.

• As we begin restoring power to critical services, we begin to assess damage and put in place our restoration plan that will restore service to the greatest number of our customers as safely and quickly as possible.

Customer Safety

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).
• 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.
• Customers choosing to use portable electric generators should do so in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. 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 our linemen working to restore power. And it may damage the generator or the house wiring.
• 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. For more gas #safety tips: https://www.entergynewsroom.com/storm-center/gas-safety/.
• Stay safe. Don’t use gas or electrical appliances that have been flooded. More flood safety tips: https://www.entergynewsroom.com/storm-center/floods/.

Stay Informed

When restoration begins, 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 page.
• Call us at 1-800-9OUTAGE (1-800-968-8243).
• Follow updates in your local news media, like radio, television and newspapers.

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.

Restoration Process

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.

Here’s how we approach things at this stage to restore your power safely and quickly:

• 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.
• When restoration starts, keep in mind that 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 up to three 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.

Our employees are our greatest assets; we will keep our workers safe during a storm response.

• Keeping our workers safe from worsening weather conditions may limit our ability to restore service as quickly as we’d like.
• We are committed to keeping our employees safe and sheltered during dangerous periods caused by high winds, flooding and other severe storm conditions.
• For strong hurricanes, we evacuate from the predicted landfall area, but quickly return as soon as conditions are safe to begin restoration.
• We are placing focus on guarding our employees from the dangers of fatigue and heat exhaustion. We stress with workers to treat fatigue as a work hazard.
• Our field workers work a 16-hour day that provide eight hours off to rest and restore.