Hurricane Ida is long gone, but the storm’s impact lives on from Louisiana to the Northeast.
Residents of Louisiana could be sitting in the dark — and baking in the heat — for weeks in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. Full restoration of electricity to parts of the battered Bayou State may not come until the end of the month, a power company bigwig warned Saturday. Ida, which roared ashore last Sunday as a Category 4 hurricane damaged or destroyed a “staggering” 22,000 power poles, more than hurricanes Katrina, Zeta and Delta combined, Entergy President and CEO Phillip May said. More than 5,200 transformers failed and nearly 26,000 spans of wire were down. “The level of devastation makes it quite difficult or near impossible to get in and fully assess some places,” May said of five southeastern Louisiana parishes facing the longest delays. He estimated full power restoration by Sept.29 or even longer for some customers, although May said that was a “no later than” date with the hope of earlier restoration. By Saturday, power had been restored to about 282,000 customers from the peak of 902,000 who lost power after Ida. About a quarter of New Orleans residents have had power restored, including all the Big Easy’s hospitals, said Deanna Rodriguez, Entergy New Orleans president and CEO.
