It could take up to three weeks to restore power to everyone in New Orleans after Hurricane Ida battered Louisiana on Monday, The New York Times reports.
About 1 million people in Louisiana are without power on Monday after the Category 4 hurricane destroyed buildings and brought down power lines. And another 130,000 are without power in Mississippi after the storm took out more than 2,000 miles of power lines.
The biggest concern is in New Orleans, where all eight transmission lines that deliver electricity to the city went down due to the storm.
AT&T and Verizon said their networks were also functioning at reduced capacity due to wind damage, flooding, and power loss. “While some have already been restored, some facilities remain down and are inaccessible,” AT&T said.
Restoration could take weeks:
Energy officials said it could take days or even weeks to restore power in Louisiana.
“We have a lot of rebuilding ahead of us,’’ Entergy Louisiana said on Twitter. “We’ll be better prepared to give restoration estimates once assessments are done.”
Some customers who were in the direct path of the hurricane may be without power for as long as three weeks, though 90% of customers are expected to have electricity restored sooner.
Crews from at least 22 states have joined the recovery effort but power companies are still working to assess the damage.
But electric companies also warned residents to avoid downed power lines.
“Just because you can’t see any apparent danger, doesn’t mean there isn’t any,” Entergy Louisiana said. “Downed power lines may still be energized. Keep your distance.”
At least 1 dead:
At least one person died in the hurricane on Sunday, possibly from a fallen tree.
"I fully expect that the death count will go up considerably throughout the day," said Louisiana Gov. Jon Bel Edwards as the state dispatched rescue crews.
Edwards said New Orleans’ levees held up well but storm surge and winds had “devastating impacts” across the state.
Many 911 call centers remain down and residents were asked to report emergencies at their nearest fire station. The Louisiana State Police warned on Monday that "it may be difficult to get help to you for quite some time."
"This is going to be a very long ordeal in terms of getting everything cleaned up and repaired," Edwards said, stressing the priority now was to "be in life- saving mode."
