Entergy starts post-Francine power restoration work

Following preparations by Entergy this week to mitigate the effects of Hurricane Francine, the utility is now working to restore power as the storm continues to spread dangerous conditions across the South after whalloping Louisiana with massive rainfall, devastating winds, and life-threatening flooding.

Hurricane Francine, currently a tropical depression, continues moving northeastward from Louisiana through Mississippi, where Entergy said outages are expected to continue increasing today as the storm moves through its service territory. PowerOutage.us reported earlier this morning that more than 400,000 homes and businesses are without power today in Louisiana and Mississippi.

“We have started restoring service to our customers where it is safe to do so and assessing damage to our system caused by Francine,” Entergy said Thursday in a statement. “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 that must be repaired to get power to you.”

The National Weather Service (NWS) reported that Francine dropped between six and eight inches of rain in the New Orleans area, prompting a rare flash flood emergency Wednesday night when heavy rain flooded roadways and cut off travel routes in several other parishes.

According to the National Hurricane Center, Francine is slowly moving north across Mississippi today into Friday, continuing to bring heavy rainfall and the risk of flash and urban flooding, along with river flooding, across portions of the Lower Mississippi Valley, the Tennessee Valley, and the Southeast. A few tornadoes are possible from the Florida Panhandle to north-central Alabama along with gusty winds and storm surge, the center said.

And while the wind risk is decreasing, extreme rainfall from Francine is expected to continue over the South, where more than 10 million people are under flood alerts. Up to eight inches of rain could swamp the region through Friday, and high levels of flooding are expected in parts of Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and the Florida Panhandle through tomorrow, according to several national reports.

After making landfall yesterday evening in Terrebonne Parish, La., as a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 110 mph, Francine moved through the Entergy Louisiana service territory, causing power outages throughout the state.

The hardest-hit areas appear to be coastal parts of Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes, as well as Assumption and Ascension parishes — regions that faced some of the strongest winds, the utility said.

The storm disrupted electrical service to approximately 288,340 Entergy customers and additional outages are expected as the storm continues. As of this morning, Entergy reported 227,900 power outages in Louisiana; 51,620 outages in New Orleans; and 8,820 in Mississippi.

“Where we are able to do so, we have already restored customers by means of remote switching via our operations control centers, switching in the field to isolate damage locations and continuous restoration activities,” said the company.

In addition to restoring power to critical services, Entergy is assessing damage and putting in place its restoration plan, which will help the company restore the greatest number of customers safely in the shortest amount of time.

“Assessment could take up to three days,” the utility said earlier today. “While we are assessing damage, we will continue restoring service where it is safe to do so. Our scouts are assessing damage to determine the exact cause of your outage and how long it will take to correct the problem.”

Entergy uses advanced technology, such as infrared cameras, drones and satellite imagery, to assess damage by foot, vehicles, airboats, highwater vehicles and helicopters.

“We strive to give an estimate of how long it will take to restore most of our customers 48-72 hours after landfall. We can provide better estimates as damage assessments are completed,” Entergy said. “Power is restored faster in areas with less damage. Restoration times in the hardest hit areas depend on the extent of damage to Entergy’s electrical facilities. 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.”

Additionally, Entergy has acquired 6,000 restoration workers along with its normal workforce to restore service for customers whose power may be affected by Francine. Additional resources will arrive today, said the company, noting that restoration crews have already been brought in from 11 states to support Entergy Mississippi, Entergy Louisiana, and Entergy New Orleans.

Total restoration field workforce includes company employees, contractors, and mutual aid resources numbering about 1,900 in Mississippi, 6,600 in Louisiana, and 865 in New Orleans.

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