Restoring power, clearing the roads of ice and preventing more deaths are the main priorities as north Louisiana continues to deal with the aftermath of an historic ice storm. At least three people have died because of the storm, including an elderly DeSoto Parish man whose death was the result of carbon monoxide poisoning. Louisiana Health Secretary Bruce Greenstein says the victim was running a generator in his garage.
“The garage is not far enough away from the home to run it safely. It must be, be very clear, at least 20 feet away from the home,” Greenstein explained.
A running generator needs to be properly ventilated. Governor Landry says if your home is without heat and power, find a warming shelter near you. Landry notes there are about 80 of them operating in the state.
“Don’t think, ‘Oh, the power may just come on at midnight. It is dangerously cold over the next couple of nights. Find somewhere warm to go,” Landry advised.
State Climatologist Jay Grymes says a gradual warm-up will begin this afternoon. By Thursday, high temperatures will be back around 60 degrees, but then another blast of cold air will come.
“We could see a reinforcing surge of Arctic air this upcoming weekend that could take North Louisiana back down into the teens for Saturday and Sunday mornings,” Grymes said.
Power companies SWEPCO and Cleco say most of their customers will have electricity by the end of today. Entergy President Phillip May says the company anticipates 90% of its customers along the I-20 corridor who can safely receive power will be restored by tomorrow night.
“Some customers will linger on into a few more days if they have very significant damage. And those customers that have damage to their home, they have to be able to take power. You may need an electrician, because vegetation has pulled weatherhead and some of the electric equipment away from homes,” May said.
May says the number of Entergy customers without power is nearly 80,000, with many of those in Ouachita Parish.
“Entergy has a force of 3,300 people working on the storm and will continue to work until all power is restored,” May said.
Many water systems are also struggling in this cold weather. Landry says this may become more of a problem as it warms up and pipes begin to burst.
“Right now, if they’re frozen, you don’t know if they’re going to leak. But as it thaws out, they’ll start to leak, which will bring the water pressure down, which could create boil advisories or could create low pressure problems as well,” Landry said.