Entergy crews and contractors have made significant progress restoring power to customers in Louisiana after a second wave of severe weather impacted the state overnight Thursday and into this morning. Teams have restored power to well over half of those who lost service and could safely accept it again.

As of 3:30 p.m., about 21,900 customers remained without power, with most being in hard-hit Acadiana, as well as the parishes of Jefferson, St. James and Tangipahoa.

While many customers will have power restored sooner, crews expect to restore power to most customers who can safely accept it by Sunday.

Last night’s weather brought lightning and high winds of more than 80 mph, impacting both the company’s transmission and distribution systems. The transmission system includes high-voltage power lines, larger infrastructure, and substations, while the distribution system includes the poles and wires typically seen along neighborhood streets.

Several substations were impacted by storms, including ones that provide power to portions of:

• LaPlace and parts of Reserve in St. John the Baptist Parish
• St. Martinville in St. Martin Parish
• Sunset and Grand Coteau area in St. Landry Parish
• Kenner in Jefferson Parish

Crews have restored the impacted substations in St. John the Baptist and Jefferson parishes and are working to restore the others in Acadiana. The impact to the substation in Jefferson Parish caused a widespread outage but crews were quickly able to restore power to thousands of customers through switching efforts.

At the distribution level, crews are performing various tasks, including field switching (isolating and rerouting power) where possible, replacing poles, and picking up and installing power lines that were downed by high winds and impacts from trees and limbs. Convent, for example, saw significant damage to the distribution system, with several poles needing replacement along La. 44.

With approximately 60% of damage assessments completed across the state by 11 a.m., crews have identified around 60 poles, 110 spans of wire, 35 transformers and 75 crossarms in need of repair or replacement.

While a storm team of more than a thousand remains engaged in restoration efforts across the state, additional resources like tree trimmers and distribution line workers have been requested. Currently, crews are being shifted around, and as crews complete work, they are being redeployed to more affected regions to accelerate restoration efforts.

Some customers may have damage to the electric equipment attached to their home or business and may need to contact an electrician to make repairs before Entergy can reconnect service. If your electric equipment appears undamaged, text OUT to 36778 or call 1-800-9OUTAGE.

Estimated Times of Restoration by Parish

• This evening, May 17 – Zachary area
• Late tonight, May 17 – Assumption, East Baton Rouge, Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, St. Charles, West Baton Rouge and Westbank of Jefferson Parish
• Late Sunday morning, May 19 – Tangipahoa and Acadiana parishes
• Late Sunday night, May 19 – Eastbank of Jefferson Parish and River Parishes