Approximately 3,000 workers have been mobilized in North Louisiana to restore power for some 50,000 SWEPCO customers who’ve been without since Thursday. It could be as late as the weekend before power is restored. Bossier City spokesperson Louis Johnson said the storm was unprecedented with straight-line winds of up to 90 miles per hour…
“But also, of the amount of outages that we’ve had. Our local energy company has not had this many people out at one time,” said Johnson.
Johnson said they are hopeful the majority of residents will have power restored by Thursday.
And with Heat Advisories in effect and the lengthy outage, Johnson said the city is providing cooling stations primarily for vulnerable individuals; the elderly, and those with health conditions.
“And in those cooling stations we have ice, we have cold water, we have snacks and a cool environment for them, during the most extreme times of the day,” said Johnson.
And to add insult to injury, Johnson said every hotel in a 30-mile radius is completely booked. He said the hotels are also having to accommodate line workers.
“This was a holiday weekend as well, so it was a perfect storm, if you pardon the pun, in that respect as it relates to hotels and availability,” said Johnson.
Johnson encourages residents to be as patient as possible. Among the damage from the storms that moved through the southeast last Thursday, Johnson said north Louisiana was among the hardest hit.
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