Entergy Louisiana crews prepare to fix power grid after Francine brings wind, rain, storms
BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — As Tropical Storm Francine is expected to make landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday, Entergy Louisiana is staging equipment and materials, as well as assembling a storm team of thousands to respond to the storm.
"As we do with any storm that threatens our service territory, we're taking Tropical Storm Francine very seriously and have activated our methodical storm process," said Steven Benyard, vice president of reliability for Entergy in Louisiana. "Our goal is to ensure we have the right resources in place to restore power efficiently and, above all, safely."
According to a news release, around 1,600 employees and contractors are on the ground in Louisiana, with an added 3,400 resources called for. Additional resources are anticipated to arrive Tuesday afternoon and into Wednesday morning.
A total of 5,000 personnel, which includes lineworkers, tree trimmers, scouts and support staff are expected to be in place, according to a news release. Around 1,400 tree trimmers will be tasked with extracting vegetation to allow lineworkers to "safely repair and work on electric equipment."
"Customers can rest assured that we are prepared to respond swiftly once it's safe to begin restoration," said Benyard.
According to a news release, Entergy Louisiana is encouraging customers to stay safe by staying at a distance from utility crews and their work sites.