Entergy says damage still being assessed

The damage caused by Gustav is among the most extreme in Entergy's history, second only to Katrina, with most of the damage in and around Baton Rouge, says spokesman Mike Burns. Getting power on to hospitals and public utility facilities is the first priority, though that can only be done once generation plants and transmission and distribution systems are OK. Burns says Entergy's generation facilities are operating, though the transmission system (those giant towers you see crossing the interstate) sustained heavy damage. “Transmission lines and towers are the backbone of the entire system," Burns says. Photos of the damage can be viewed on Entergy's website.

"The weather has hampered our ability to do flyovers and assess all the damage," he says. "That assessment is still ongoing."

The Baton Rouge distribution system (the poles that carry power to homes and businesses) is a mess. As of this morning, Burns would not hazard a guess as to when power would be significantly restored.

"It all depends on the area you're in," Burns says. "The length of the outage is going to depend on the length of the damage."

You're likely to see power sooner if you're connected to a feeder line that feeds a relatively large number of customers, as opposed to a feeder line that serves fewer customers. Even after feeder lines are restored, you've still got significant damage to power lines to individual homes and businesses, such as electric meters that have been ripped from outside walls. Other parishes with the most outages are Jefferson, Orleans, Tangipahoa, Lafourche, Terrebonne, Plaquemines, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. Bernard, Assumption, St. Landry and, in Mississippi, Adams County, Burns says.

With 1.2 million customers in Louisiana, Entergy reported 620,705 outages among them Wednesday night and said outages expanded into Arkansas overnight, where 70,869 customers were without power. Power had been restored to 148,693 customers. It said about 40% of its transmission lines and 27% of its substations were out of service in the state.

"It was a direct hit across Louisiana," Renae Conley, president and chief executive of Entergy Louisiana and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, told reporters.

The Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities in Louisiana, estimates that half the power will be restored in nine days, but that it will take up to four weeks before all power is restored.

Burns says Entergy is working as fast as it can to restore service and has 12,000 contractors and mutual aid crew members at work, plus another 3,000 support staff. Crews are coming to Louisiana from more than 25 states, Burns says.

Entergy may give a status report this afternoon, possibly including more specific estimates of how long power will be out. —Steve Clark

Disaster response effective, but curfews, long lines remain

City-parish officials had no complaints about the disaster response at a news conference this morning.

“Compared with Katrina, this is just a much improved response,” said Mike Futrell, assistant city-parish administrator. FEMA is distributing tarps, ice, water and MREs at the Wal-Mart locations in Baker on Plank Road and in Baton Rouge at Siegen Lane. Futrell said nine trucks from FEMA arrived in town this morning, but warned that lines are very long and people should make sure they have plenty of gasoline before getting in line.

Other topics covered today:

-Curfew remains in effect at 8 p.m. today. Officials said 77 arrests have been made by Baton Rouge Police since Tuesday, generally for minor violations, including 50 for curfew violations.

-All city-parish government employees should report to work tomorrow.

-All parish hospitals are on full power except Lane, Woman’s and Earl K. Long hospitals, which are still running on generator power. Parish officials expect to be able to give an update on the overall power situation by about 3 p.m.

-Cox Cable is following the energy companies, so if you have power, you should be getting cable back soon.

-There is no gasoline shortage. Officials are urging people needing gas to look for an open station nearby, rather than driving across town and adding to the traffic.

-Garbage pickup and debris collection begins today; debris collection will start in the Broadmoor/Sherwood Forest area. Five large street sweepers will be working downtown today. Officials are asking residents to begin bringing debris to the street side.

-Patients who need dialysis treatment should make an appointment at 387-1333. CATS will pick you up and bring you back home.

-Three Red Cross shelters are open, one each at the BREC buildings on Gus Young and South Flannery and Goodwood, and one at Bethany Ministries on Plank Road in Baker. They have generator power but no air conditioning.

-Both main wastewater plants are fully operational.

-An update on the electricity situation is tentatively scheduled for 3 p.m. ­–David Jacobs

Alleva: Tiger Stadium sustained "a lot of damage"

LSU Athletic Director Joe Alleva says the amount of damage done to Tiger Stadium forced the postponement of Saturday’s scheduled game with Troy. “Tiger Stadium suffered a lot of damage. Windows were blown out. We have no power. We don’t know when power will be back on in the stadium,” he said in a statement. “We have to check on the lighting and the scoreboard.” LSU is set to play Troy on Nov. 15, which was an open date for both teams. According to The Times-Picayune there are hundreds of broken seats in Tiger Stadium and flying chunks of aluminum tore up chunks in the turf. Alleva told the newspaper he hopes the stadium will be ready for the Tigers’ Sept. 13 date against North Texas. Other LSU athletic facilities were also damaged by Gustav; the press box was blown away at the soccer stadium and roofs were damaged at the Natatorium, Maddox Field House and Tiger Park softball stadium.

No word on when Exxon refinery will reopen

Oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico that had been shut down before the hurricane resumed in limited volumes, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said Wednesday afternoon. The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, which handles about 12% of the nation's crude imports and is tied by pipeline to about half the nation's refining capacity, does not appear to have been damaged by Gustav.

ExxonMobil says workers are continuing to survey hurricane damage at its north Baton Rouge refinery and chemical plant. The company said in a statement on its Web site that it was assessing options, but it can’t provide a restart date yet. A smaller refinery in Chalmette sustained no major damage from Gustav, but Exxon is still determining when the plant will reopen. The oil giant has reopened its refineries in Baytown and Beaumont, Texas, which were closed in anticipation of Gustav.

Rescue arrives from New York and Illinois

Relief for strained local firefighters began arriving this morning from New York City and Illinois. More than 150 firefighters from Illinois and the New York City Fire Department’s Incident Management Team are gathering at the LSU Firefighter Training Academy on Nicholson Drive.

“Local fire departments are working around-the-clock with their firefighters out in the field trying to keep a lid on hazards such as electrical fires, candle and kerosene lamp fires, and generator fires, and many are near exhaustion,” said Louisiana State Fire Marshal H. “Butch” Browning. New York City and Illinois teams will support local firefighters as they work through grueling hours. In addition to manpower support, the Illinois firefighters come supplied with their own equipment.

“Their willingness to leave their families and come help us is needed, appreciated and humbling,” Browning said.

The out-of-state firefighters and Incident Management Team will remain in Louisiana as long as their support is needed. For more information, contact the State Fire Marshal’s office at (225) 925-4297. –Olivia Watkins

State takes charge with generator purchase

The state is purchasing generators that will be distributed to various parish EOCs, which will in turn distribute them in hard-hit areas across 28 parishes, including to private businesses such as grocery stores and pharmacies. “This has never been done before in Louisiana,” Gov. Bobby Jindal said this morning. The first wave of the program will include 400 generators at an estimated cost of $20 million. Purchasing the generators outright, rather than leasing, allows the state to bypass the Army Corps of Engineers’ individual assessment process. The state will work with the Corps or FEMA to try and get reimbursed for the generators later. Energy providers are saying about 962,000 meters remain without power, or about 48% across the state. Jindal said the utilities are saying it could be three weeks before power is restored in some areas, with Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes likely taking the longest. –David Jacobs

Lamar official says company "blessed"

Hurricane Gustav may have caused heavy damage across Baton Rouge, but an official with Lamar Advertising says the storm did little permanent damage to its billboards across the city. “We were blessed,” says Garth Roberts, Lamar’s vice president and general manager. “The structures are strong and most of the damage is cosmetic” such as dented faces and ripped off vinyl. Unlike Hurricane Katrina, which twisted and destroyed billboards across metro New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Roberts says only one billboard—on Tom Drive—has been permanently damaged. The 29 digital billboards in the area were shut down in advance of Gustav; Roberts says there are no signs of external damage, but it will be at least 24 hours until the first units can be checked out. “We’ve got to boot those boards back up and run the fans in them for 24 hours to dry them out,” he says. The total damage caused by Gustav is still being compiled. –Timothy Boone

Rite Aid reopens 12 Capital Region pharmacies

Rite Aid says it has reopened 21 pharmacies in Louisiana and Mississippi, including 12 in Baton Rouge and Hammond. The stores reopened are: 5840 Plank Road, 12308 Plank Road, Government Street, Staring Lane, Siegen Lane, Greenwell Springs Road, S. Sherwood Forest, Millerville Road, O’Neal Lane, S. Range Avenue in Denham Springs, N. Airline Highway in Gonzales and Hammond Square Drive in Hammond.

BRAF, United Way set up Gustav relief funds

The Baton Rouge Area Foundation and the Capital Area United Way have set up two funds to help with Hurricane Gustav relief. BRAF’s fund gustavlouisiana.org, capitalizes on the organization’s efforts to raise money for those affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The money raised by BRAF will be used to provide grants to church shelters, to buy food and medicine, and to care for emergency responders who needed relief of their own. The CAUW has also set up a Hurricane Disaster Fund and will spend 100% of the money generated on helping people impacted by Gustav. Go to TheWayToHelp.org to learn how you can help.

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