After Hurricane Francine swept through Louisiana Wednesday night, more than 35,000 Entergy customers across the Capital Region are still without power and don’t know when it will be restored.
While some companies like City Roots Coffee Bar And SushiBar A power outage was reported at Electric Depot overnight, but power was restored on Thursday morning.
David Freese, senior communications specialist for Entergy Louisiana, says it is too early to give time estimates for when power will be restored to affected areas of Baton Rouge.
“Today is our first day on the ground,” Freese says. “In order to provide estimates, we need to know what’s out there, the extent of the damage, and what people are needed. Once we have more information, we can provide some high-level and neighborhood estimates.”
To prepare for the storm, Entergy strategically positioned its team near the areas expected to be affected in Louisiana. Freese said Entergy has a storm team of more than 6,000 people dedicated to restoring power in Louisiana, including line workers, 2,000 tree cutters, damage reconnaissance workers, and logistics and support personnel.
On Wednesday, Entergy crew members stayed in hotels in Baton Rouge to restore power as quickly as possible on Thursday. Freese said the power company also has placed materials and supplies, such as power poles and power line equipment, in a local park for easy access.
Although it is too early to fully assess the damage, Freese says preliminary indications suggest most of the outages are due to the strength of the power distribution and fallen tree branches.
From 2:30 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, Entergy’s outage map reported that nearly 8,000 customers were still without power in East Baton Rouge Parish. There were still nearly 5,500 outages in Livingston Parish and nearly 23,000 in Ascension Parish.
“We just ask for patience and support for the men and women who are out there doing what is sometimes dangerous but also vital work,” Freese said. “So just hang in there. We’re coming. The assault team is fully deployed and activated. We’ll get through this.”
