United States: Energy companies say that recovery from Hurricane Ida may take several weeks-News

The head of Entergy, Louisiana, warned on Saturday that before the end of this month, some of the worst-hit areas in Louisiana may not be fully restored to power until the end of this month. These areas have been affected by Hurricane Ida to an unprecedented degree.

Storms in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama killed at least 16 people.

Ida damaged or destroyed more than 22,000 telephone poles, more than the combined of Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Zeta, and Hurricane Delta. Philip May, President and CEO of Entergy, described the impact as “shocking.” More than 5,200 transformers failed and nearly 26,000 cross-wires (transmission lines between utility poles) were disconnected.

“The level of damage makes it very difficult or almost impossible to enter and fully assess certain places,” said May of the five parishes in southeastern Louisiana that have faced the longest delays. The company expects that some customers will fully restore power before September 29 or even longer.

Deanna Rodriguez, President and CEO of Entergy New Orleans, said that about a quarter of New Orleans residents have restored power, including all hospitals in the city, and the city’s 27 substations are ready to serve customers. Entergy said that most customers should restore power before Wednesday.

One of the parishes facing long delays in power restoration is Terrebonne. On Saturday, volunteers from the Houma parish seat distributed ice, water and food to storm survivors who were hit by shells. Houma is located about 90 kilometers southwest of New Orleans.

Among those in need was 26-year-old Kendall Duthu of Dulac, who collected a container of red beans and rice and pulled an Infiniti with a broken windshield to eat.

Duthu and his girlfriend have been living in his car since the storm hit. Before the pandemic announced the job, he was a chef at a restaurant assortment and then a car wash until the job disappeared. Duthu is a diabetic who lost his house in the storm and does not know what will happen next.

“Next stop, I really don’t…” he said, his voice getting smaller and smaller. “We just live a life day after day.”

Chief Executive John Helston said that since Tuesday, the Hancock Whitney Bank in Houma itself has been severely damaged by Ada and has distributed approximately 42,000 meals.

“Hurricane is just a part of life,” he said. “Buildings come and go. We may be in different neighborhoods. But in the next storm, we will be here.”

To the south of Houma, the trees shattered, the furniture was submerged, and the wreckage of houses was scattered along the roadside. In Ashland, Louisiana, 27-year-old Rene Gregoire Jr. stood outside his house. The windows burst and water poured in. This is the latest blow after the tugboat worker suffered a serious wrist injury at work, after being infected with Covid-19, and his dog needed US$3,000 for surgery.

“This is my home, but I have to find something new,” Gregoire said, considering moving to Arizona with his girlfriend.

Heading south along the Bayou Grand Caillou, Harry Bonvillain investigated the damage to his home, which was built on concrete pillars and is now surrounded by a maze of broken stairs and shredded wood.

Most of Bonvillain’s property was lost, mold grew on his clothes, and ants occupied the house. With so much attention to New Orleans, the 58-year-old Bonvillena wondered why more people don’t care about small communities like him.

He described himself: “I’m sick. Tired. Nervous. Depressed. Highly anxious.”

Some parishes outside of New Orleans were blown by winds of 160 kilometers per hour or more for several hours.

By Saturday morning, 97% of the damage assessment had been completed, and the power of approximately 282,000 customers had recovered from the peak of 902,000 power outages after Ada.

The Coast Guard said that the lower Mississippi River was reopened to New Orleans and all ships in southeastern Louisiana ports after removing the wires from a downed transmission tower.

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell (LaToya Cantrell) said the city is providing transportation for any residents who want to leave the city and go to public shelters.

By the end of Saturday, the city agency conducting the health check had evacuated hundreds of people from eight high-level living quarters where officials deemed conditions unsuitable for living. The coroner’s office is investigating four post-storm deaths in three of the facilities.

The temperature on Saturday was as high as the 90s, and many New Orleans residents just wanted to stay cool.

At Treme Entertainment Community Center, a gated complex in the historic Black and Creole neighborhoods, cars line up to receive water, food, and ice rations.

76-year-old Albert Taylor Jr. said: “It’s unreasonable for us to go so far in hot weather. He tries to balance the daily humanity of the three tanks of water and the walker he uses. He was rationed because of his hip and knee arthritis. He and other disabled residents lived in a rental unit a few blocks away without electricity.

In the lower ninth district, a community that suffered huge losses after Hurricane Katrina, 57-year-old Lationa Kemp is too far from the community center to walk. On Saturday, she relied on a neighbor’s car to fetch ice cubes, hot meals and bottled water.

As work resumes on Saturday, state officials are monitoring the disturbed weather system in the Gulf of Campeche, Mexico, which appears to be entering the Gulf of Central Mexico near Louisiana.

Louisiana Governor John Bell Edwards said the state is planning an exercise to assess its emergency response if needed. The forecasts so far do not show that the system will intensify into a hurricane, but he said: “Even if it is a tropical storm, we currently cannot get so much rainfall.”

“We can’t take the scripts we usually use because people and assets are no longer where they should be,” Edwards said.

“How do you equip the new storm with the shelter you need and continue testing for the new crown virus? Just thinking about it is a headache. …We will prepare as much as possible, but I pray that we won’t have to deal with this problem.”

Meanwhile, Coast Guard staff are responding to a large-scale oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico after the storm on Saturday. The ongoing leak appears to come from an underwater source at an offshore drilling lease approximately 3 kilometers south of Port Fulchion, Louisiana.

President Joe Biden arrived on Friday to investigate the storm damage. He visited the Laplace community between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain. The community suffered catastrophic wind and water damage and the roof was blown by wind. The house was submerged by flooding.

The President also promised that the federal government will fully support the Northeast, where the wreck of Ada poured out record-breaking rainfall from Virginia to Connecticut, killing at least 50 people.

Twelve people died in Louisiana due to the storm. Five nursing home residents were evacuated to a warehouse in Louisiana with hundreds of other seniors before the hurricane. Health officials said the conditions had become dirty and unsafe. .

On Saturday night, the state health officer, Dr. Joseph Kanter, ordered the immediate closure of seven nursing facilities that transport residents to warehouse facilities in Tangipahoa parish. “Ignoring the well-being of these disadvantaged residents is an affront to human dignity. We have lost trust in these nursing homes to provide adequate care for their residents,” Kanter said.

On Friday, the health department reported the death of a 59-year-old man believed to have been poisoned by carbon monoxide produced by a generator running at his home. Several deaths after the storm have been blamed on carbon monoxide poisoning, which can happen if the generator is not operating properly.