Mississippi governor says flooding, power outages remain problems post Ida
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves notes the southeast part of the state, which is along the coast, experienced ‘significant tornadoes as well as rising water and 12 inches of rain.’
Power was restored for some customers in Eastern New Orleans on Wednesday as residents struggled to find food and clean drinking water amidst sweltering heat.
Utility company Entergy reported Wednesday that crews turned on power for the area with generation supplied by the New Orleans Power Station.
"This is the first step in bringing power back to the metro region, after Hurricane Ida left devastating destruction in its path," the company wrote.
HURRICANE IDA AFTERMATH: NO POWER, NO FLIGHTS, INADEQUATE DRINKING WATER
However, Entergy New Orleans – which provides electricity to more than 200,000 customers and natural gas to more than 108,000 customers – noted that full restoration would still take time given the "significant damage" to the region and that much of the redundancy built into the electric system is limited, making it difficult to move power to customers.
"Crews will have to methodically bring back additional transmission lines over time to provide other pathways for power to enter the region, helping to maintain stability of the system throughout the complete restoration process," Entergy said. "Additionally, crews will continue work to repair damage across the distribution lines that serve homes and neighborhoods across the region."
NOLA.com also reported that lights were turned back on at hospitals across St. Tammany Parish on Tuesday.
More than 1 million customers were left without power in the wake of Hurricane Ida, which brought destructive winds, torrential rainfall and life-threatening flooding to much of the state.
On Tuesday, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards told reporters that there was a lot of work to be done and that "no one is under the illusion that this is going to be a short process."
Like New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, Edwards again urged Louisianans who had evacuated not to return home.
"What I'm trying to make sure people understand is, many of the life-supporting infrastructure elements are not present. They're not operating right now," he said.
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Schools and businesses were closed on Tuesday, hospitals already packed with COVID-19 patients were "slammed," drinking water was scant and widespread power outages continued.
The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport first announced Monday that airlines had canceled all inbound and outbound flights on Tuesday and that 197 cancellations had been reported for Wednesday due to impacts from the storm.
Only American Airlines had flights scheduled on Wednesday, but officials said that they "hope for more normal operations later in the week."
WVUE-Fox 8 reported on Sunday that 30 stranded passengers were left sheltering in the airport because of the Category 4 hurricane.
Two people in the state were killed as a result of Hurricane Ida and the number is expected to rise, Edwards said.
New Orleans was under a heat advisory, with forecasters predicting that high temperatures and humidity could make it feel like 106 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday.
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City officials have announced seven locations where people could find a meal and sit in air-conditioning, are using 70 transit buses as cooling sites and plan to have drive-thru food, water and ice distribution sites set up on Wednesday.
"We know it’s hot," Cantrell said at a news conference. "We know we do not have any power, and that continues to be a priority."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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