In the six days since Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana, Entergy has restored nearly 327,700, or 35%, of the 948,000 customers who lost power due to the storm.
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As of 7 a.m. Saturday, there were approximately 470,000 outages remaining in Louisiana (including 150,000 in New Orleans).
Damage assessments are nearly completed, with only the bayou region of Louisiana left to be assessed.
"Estimates are subject to change as we complete our damage assessments and continue with restoration work in the affected areas," according to Entergy, the company that provides power to New Orleans and much of southeast Louisiana in the storm’s path.
"Specific estimated restoration times down to the local area, including the coast and areas in the immediate path of the storm, are continuing to be developed and will be released in the coming days. Due to the level of devastation in these areas, some roads remain blocked and access to the damaged areas is difficult. We are using helicopters, drones and other tools to help us assess damage where access is limited.
"For our industrial customers, 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.
"With a current workforce of more than 24,000 in Louisiana, our dedicated restoration crews are working around the clock to restore power to customers as quickly as is safely possible. We will not stop until the last light is on.
"Entergy is providing backup generation and restoring power to several critical-service providers, including hospitals and wastewater facilities. The company also is working individually with large industrial customers, including refineries and manufacturing facilities, to coordinate their restoration," the company says. ■