NEW ORLEANS — Entergy estimates about 75% of New Orleans lost power when Hurricane Zeta struck the city on Wednesday; most remain without electricity Thursday and officials are warning it could be several days before some areas are restored.
At a press conference with city officials, Entergy spokesperson Sandra Miller stressed that crews were working as quickly as possible to restore power.
"Damage assessment is key," Miller said. "Right now, we're not sure what locations may or may not have power."
While the actual number fluctuates slightly hour by hour because of repair work being done, Entergy estimates about 125,000 people are without power in New Orleans Thursday afternoon.
"We will see some movement in that number...tomorrow," Miller said
Entergy brought in crews from 12 states to repair damage in the Southeastern Louisiana area, but most are unable to begin working until damage assessments are finished. Officials say Thursday was the biggest day for those assessments and the bulk of repair work will start Friday.
Most of the damage the utility company's scouts are reporting is in the form of downed trees and branches damaging equipment. But at least 200 power poles are down in New Orleans, according to Entergy.
Some repair work was able to begin Wednesday night in the form of "field switching," where power is rerouted to areas shut down by the storm through other parts of the Entergy grid, according to Lee Sabatini, another spokesperson for the utility company who spoke with WWL-TV Thursday evening.
But the majority of the ground-level repair work required an assessment of the damage beforehand, she said.
Hurricane Zeta tore through Louisiana as a Category 2 storm, bringing winds of 100+ mph to the metro New Orleans area.
Across the state, more than 400,000 people are without power because of the storm.
Miller said most areas will see power restored in the next few days, but that those in the hardest-hit areas could be left in the dark for up to 10 days or longer.
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