TERREBONNE PARISH, La. — Thousands of residents are waking up without power in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes this morning as Hurricane Barry inches closer to making landfall.
As of 9 a.m. Saturday, 63,000 customers throughout the state are without power, with most of the outages reported in southeastern Louisiana. Entergy has reported 7,400 individual outages.
Baton Rouge is seeing an increase in the number of outages in the area, but Jefferson Parish has 6,000 customers without power.
The area that has been hit the hardest, Terrebonne Parish, has just under 15,000 Entergy customers in the dark as of 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
There are 421 Entergy crews in Jefferson Parish, with more scattered around the state. Officials said they are working to reach all locations that have gone dark, but storm conditions are preventing them from reaching some areas such as Grand Isle.
Entergy is also reporting outages in the Gray and Schriever areas, along the east side of Houma down into Bourg, Montegut and Chauvin. A large section of residents near Mathews and Lockport are also without power this morning as well as other scattered outages throughout both parishes.
Curfews are still in place for both parishes. Lafourche residents are asked to stay inside until at least 8 a.m., or 6 a.m. in the city of Thibodaux.
Terrebonne’s curfew is until 10 a.m.
Officials in both parishes are asking residents to remain indoors and off the streets even after the curfew is lifted.
The Coast Guard rescued about a dozen people from Isle de Jean Charles Saturday morning.
The residents, some of which are elderly citizens, were stranded on rooftops and in boats. Island Road is completely underwater.
Point aux Chene is “high and dry” however. Parish fire departments have worked through the night clearing down trees.
The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office said deputies have been clearing downed trees from the roadways, but many debris remains.
The reported damage has been widespread, mostly due to wind. As of 6 a.m. this morning, there have been no confirmed tornadoes or sightings, Lafourche Lt. Brennan Matherne said.
There have been no reported house fires, but some smaller tree fires caused by hitting power lines, he said.
Dove said there have been no reports of major damage, but the wind is still blowing strong. The Morganza system has been able to hold back a lot of water, as much as 9 feet in the Humble Canal in Montegut, he said.
The pumps have been keeping up with what rain has fallen and so far, Houma has largely been unaffected, Dove said.
According to the National Weather Service, Barry is still moving at about 5 miles per hour, with top winds of 65 mph.
ROAD CLOSURES:
- LA 1 south of the Leon Theriot Locks in Golden Meadow
- Cote Blanche Pontoon Bridge in Cut Off
- Galliano Pontoon Bridge
‒ The La. 665 Road Gate in Pointe-aux-Chenes is closed.
‒ The La. 56 Roller Gate is closed. The emergency bypass road will be open to light vehicular traffic.
‒ Check for road closures and traffic conditions across Louisiana at 511la.org.
To report power outages,
‒ Entergy: 1-800-968-8243 (800-9OUTAGE). Download the Entergy app for iPhone or Android. Or view outages and get estimated restoration times at entergystormcenter.com.
‒ Terrebonne Parish Utilities Department: 873-6750.
‒ SLECA: 876-6880 or 800-256-8826.