Ida's fury left a complex power challenge in Louisiana

NEW ORLEANS – Crews successful Louisiana person restored powerfulness to astir 70% of greater New Orleans and astir each of Baton Rouge aft Hurricane Ida, but extracurricular those ample cities, getting lights backmost connected is simply a analyzable situation that volition past astir each of September, inferior executives said Monday.

It's going to impact aerial boats to get into the swamps and marshes to drawstring lines and repair the astir distant of astir 22,000 powerfulness poles that Ida blew down erstwhile it came ashore connected Aug. 29 arsenic 1 of the astir almighty hurricanes to deed the U.S. mainland, Entergy Louisiana President and CEO Phillip May said.

More than 530,000 customers inactive don't person powerfulness successful Louisiana, conscionable nether fractional of the highest erstwhile Ida struck 8 days ago. In five parishes westbound and southbound of New Orleans, astatine slightest 98% of homes and businesses don't person power, according to the state Public Service Commission.

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“It's going to beryllium a rebuild, not a repair,” May said.

The struggles successful agrarian Louisiana shouldn't support radical from forgetting the “near miraculous” velocity of the repairs in New Orleans, Entergy New Orleans President and CEO Deanna Rodriguez said.

"I americium truthful arrogant of the squad and I deliberation it’s a fabulous bully quality story,” she said.

Ida killed astatine slightest 13 radical successful Louisiana, galore of them successful the storm's aftermath. Its remnants besides brought historical flooding, grounds rains and tornados from Virginia to Massachusetts, sidesplitting astatine slightest 50 much people.

In the Gulf of Mexico, divers have located the evident root of a continuing lipid spill that appeared aft Ida moved done the country astir 2 miles (3 kilometers) southbound of Port Fourchon, Louisiana.

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The proprietor of the pipeline hasn't been discovered. Talos Energy, the Houston-based institution presently paying for the cleanup, said it does not beryllium to them. The institution said it is moving with the U.S. Coast Guard and different authorities and national agencies to find the owner.

Entergy, meanwhile, warned radical to beryllium careful, due to the fact that they don't privation Ida's decease toll to emergence immoderate more.

"There’s nary mode to cognize if a downed enactment is energized oregon not, truthful if you spot one, conscionable enactment distant from it,” May said.

It remains the highest of hurricane play and forecasters are watching a clump of storms adjacent the Yucatán Peninsula.

It's not an organized tropical tempest astatine the infinitesimal and is expected to determination dilatory to the northbound oregon northeast implicit the Gulf of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center said successful a Monday update.

Forecasts don't amusement immoderate important strengthening implicit the adjacent respective days, but adjacent dense rainfall could origin much symptom successful Louisiana.

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“Unfortunately, it could bring a batch of rainfall to our already saturated region. If we are impacted, this could situation our restoration.” said John Hawkins, vice president of organisation operations for Entergy Louisiana.

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