Officials from Entergy Louisiana, Monroe, West Monroe, and Ouachita Parish updated the region on power restoration timelines for northeast Louisiana following the devastating effects of Winter Storm Fern.
Over 15,000 customers in Ouachita Parish remain without power, down from 92,000 without power earlier in the week.
"This is an unprecedented storm for us in this part of the state," said Entergy Louisiana CEO Phillip May. "We've never seen this much ice, or this much damage to our system."
May explained that 90% of Entergy customers will be restored by Saturday, January 31st.
Entergy has replaced over 900 utility poles, repaired over 500 miles of transmission line, and replaced or repaired over 200 transformers. May discussed storm damage that continues to raise the number of outages due to more falling trees.
Areas that will not be restored by January 31 include rural Ouachita Parish near Drew, Cheniere, and Cadeville; in Richland Parish near Poverty Point; in Jackson Parish, Jonesboro; in rural areas of Lincoln Parish near Ruston; in East Carroll Parish, Translyvania and Lake Providence; in Bienville Parish, near Saline; in northwest Caldwell Parish; in northeast Madison Parish; and in West Carroll Parish near Epps, Pioneer, and Forest. Entergy will be communicating with customers and local official in those areas to update them on the timeline for restoration.
Restoration efforts may be hampered by high winds in the forecast over the next day or two, which, according to May, may cause additional outages.
Chad McMillan, senior manager for Entergy Distribution, explained that the storm slowed restoration efforts in unpredictable ways, but that crews are working from daylight to dark and overnight to restore power.