Entergy has deployed a team of 1,900, including line workers, tree trimmers, and support personnel to restore power to the 66,851 Entergy Louisiana customers currently without power. While the bulk of the outages are occurring in the Greater Baton Rouge and Tangipahoa areas, as of 1 pm, over 1,000 customers in Orleans Parish were also without power.
With temperatures expected to drop throughout the afternoon and evening, Entergy is asking customers to limit their power usage over the next few days to prevent further outages by doing the following:
- Lowering your central thermostat to 68 degrees or lower
- Delay washing laundry and dishes, bathing, and other non-essential uses of electricity,
- If you must wash clothes, do so with cold water, cook foods at the lowest eat level possible, and refrain from opening the oven door while baking,
- Keep doors and windows throughout the house covered to minimize warm air escaping from your home.
If you do lose power, unplug any electric heaters, water heaters, and other high-use appliances until power is restored, and turn them back on gradually to avoid overloading the system as it undergoes repairs. Do not run generators in confined areas with poor ventilation, and check to make sure any propane or gas space heaters are labeled for indoor use. Do not use a gas oven to heat your home – this could lead to carbon monoxide poisoning.
In addition to leaving tens of thousands without power, Monday’s winter storm left roads throughout Louisiana impassable, trees down, and thick ice across the western portions of the state.
Highland Road is a mess with downed limbs everywhere. My parents took these photos near the Kenilworth area. #LAwx pic.twitter.com/AnLiAA2ChQ
— Jake Dalton (@jdaltonwx) February 15, 2021
Although the New Orleans area avoided most of the ice, we are still expected to get dangerously cold temperatures overnight, with wind chills as low as 13 degrees. The New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board (SWBNO) is reminding residents that cold weather could impact drinking water. SWBNO has added two temporary generators to provide redundant power for the city’s water system, as Turbine 6 can’t be used in cold weather. Residents are encouraged to run the faucet furthest from the water meter at a steady “spaghetti thin” trickle to prevent pipes from freezing overnight.
The New Orleans Health Department is coordinating with local shelters to ensure there is adequate capacity to anyone in need of shelter, and the citywide freeze plan has been activated through Wednesday morning. If you or someone you know is in need of shelter, call the non-emergency New Orleans Police Department number at (504-821-2222).
