Thousands of utility workers push to restore power in Louisiana after Ida

Hundreds of thousands of Louisianans sweltered in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida on Tuesday with no electricity, no tap water, precious little gasoline and no idea when things might improve.

Long lines that wrapped around the block formed at the few gas stations that had fuel and generator power to pump it. People cleared rotting food out of refrigerators. Neighbours shared generators and used buckets of swimming pool water to bathe or to flush toilets.

"We have a lot of work ahead of us and no one is under the illusion that this is going to be a short process," Gov. John Bel Edwards said as the cleanup and recovery began across the soggy region in the oppressive late-summer heat.

Ida ravaged the region's power grid, leaving all of New Orleans and hundreds of thousands of other Louisiana residents in the dark, with no clear timeline on when the electricity would come back on. Some areas outside New Orleans also suffered major flooding and damage to homes and businesses.

The storm, whichpushed through on Sunday with winds that reached 240 km/h,was blamed for at least four deaths in Louisiana and Mississippi, including two people killed Monday night when seven vehicles plunged into a six-metre-deephole near Lucedale, Miss., where a highway had collapsed after torrential rains.

Edwards said he expects the death toll to rise.

By early Tuesday, about 1.3 million customers in the region were without power approximately48 hours after the storm made landfall, most of them in Louisiana, according to PowerOutage, which gathers data from U.S. utility companies.

WATCH | Governor warns evacuees to stay away:

Louisiana governor warns evacuees not to come back too soon

3 years ago

Duration 0:39

The governor of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards, said the state's infrastructure has been so badly damaged by Hurricane Ida that anyone who fled for safety should not come home soon.

The mayor of New Orleans ordered a nighttime curfew Tuesday, calling it an effort to prevent crime after Hurricane Ida devastated the power system and left the city in darkness.

City officials announced seven places around the city where people could get a meal and sit in air conditioning. The city was also using 70 transit buses as cooling sites and will have drive-thru food, water and ice distribution locations set up on Wednesday, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said.

The mayor also said she expects the main power company,Entergy, to be able to provide some electricity to the city by Wednesday evening, but stressed that doesn't mean a quick citywide restoration. Rather, she said, the energy company will be able to begin restoring its mangled distribution system of snapped poles and tangled lines.

Cantrell said residents would see progress, but also acknowledged frustration in the days ahead.

"We know it's hot. We know we do not have any power and that continues to be a priority," she told a news conference.

Gov. Edwards travelled with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell to see the damage firsthand. FEMA teams arriving Tuesday would go house to house in hard-hit neighbourhoods to register people for aid, Criswell said, particularly in areas with widespread cellphone outages.

The governor warned some of those who fled their homes not to come back until officials give the all-clear.

"The schools are not open. The businesses are not open. The hospitals are slammed. There's not water in your home and there is not going to be electricity," Edwwardssaid after touring LaPlace in the hard-hit New Orleans suburb of St. John the Baptist Parish, where 80 per centof rescues, but no deaths, took place.

"So let's get you where you can be safe and somewhat comfortable."

An estimated 25,000-plus utility workers laboured to restore electricity, but officials said it could take weeks.

With water treatment plants overwhelmed by floodwaters or marred by power outages, some places are also facing shortages of drinking water.

About 441,000 people in 17 parishes had no water, and an additional 319,000 were under boil-water advisories, federal officials said.

'Catastrophic' damage to grid

Adding to the misery was the steamy weather. A heat advisory was issued for New Orleans and the rest of the region, with forecasters saying the combination of high temperatures and humidity could make it feel like 41 Con Tuesday.

Renell Debose spent a week suffering in the New Orleans Superdome after 2005's Hurricane Katrina, which killed 1,800 people and left the city nearly uninhabitable. She said she is willing to give it a few days without electricity, but no more than that.

"I love my city. I'm built for this. But I can't make it without any air conditioning," she said.

Shelly Huff, who like Debose was waiting for gas at Costco, said: "It's been rough. Not having power is probably the worst thing. But I have great neighbours;one who evacuated left us a generator. We've been sharing food and supplies, so it hasn't been too bad.

"I could probably last a week without electricity, but any longer and I'm going to have to get out of town," she said.

Power crews rushed into the region. Louisiana's governor said 25,000 utility workers were on the ground in the state to help restore electricity, with more on the way.

Still, his office described damage to the power grid as "catastrophic."Entergy Corp, a major power supplier in the region, said it could take weeks before electricity is restored in the hardest-hit areas.

The company saidmore than 3,200 kilometres of transmission lines were knocked out of service along with 216 substations. The storm also flattened utility poles, toppled trees onto power lines and caused transformers to explode. Parts of a transmission tower toppled into the Mississippi River on Sunday night.

See some of the damage in Louisiana:

Hidden danger

Officials warned residents about the hidden dangers of flood waters that might bring wildlife closer to neighbourhoods.

In Slidell, La.,crews searched for a 71-year-old man whose wife said he was attacked by an alligator in Ida's floodwaters. She pulled him to the steps of the home and paddled away to get help, but when she returned, he was gone, authorities said.

Wildlife officials warned of bears, snakes, alligators and feral hogs looking for food in the storm's aftermath.

Hurricane Ida blew ashore on the 16th anniversary of Katrina, the 2005 storm that breached New Orleans' levees, devastated the city and was blamed for 1,800 deaths.

This time, New Orleans, protected by a major overhaul of its levees since Katrina, escaped the catastrophic flooding some had feared.

In Mississippi's southwestern corner, entire neighbourhoods were surrounded by floodwaters, and many roads were impassable. Several tornadoes were reported, including a suspected twister in Saraland, Ala., that ripped part of the roof off a motel and flipped an 18-wheeler, injuring the driver.

On Grand Isle, the barrier island that bore the full force of Ida's winds, Police Chief Scooter Resweber said he was "amazed that no one was killed or even seriously injured."

About half of the properties on the island of about 1,400 people were heavily damaged or destroyed, and the main roadway was nearly completely covered in sand brought in from the tidal surge.

"I've ridden out other hurricanes: Hurricane Isaac, Katrina, Gustav, Ike. This is the worst," Resweber said.

Ida's remnants continued to bring heavy rain and flooding to parts of the Tennessee and Ohio valleys. Flash flooding and mudslides were possible around Washington on Thursday and in New England on Friday.