Tropical Storm Francine is expected to make landfall just west of Vermillion Bay, Louisiana, as a Category 1-2 Hurricane early Wednesday evening. Electric utilities in the path have been preparing. As of Tuesday morning, Entergy Louisiana reported they have approximately 1,600 employees and contractors on the ground in Louisiana, with an additional 3,400 resources requested—bringing the total to around 5,000 personnel, including line workers, tree trimmers, scouts, and support staff. Additional resources are expected to be arriving this afternoon and into tomorrow morning. Cleco has secured 1,700 distribution and transmission contractor resources in addition to the company’s own staff. The skill sets include line mechanics, damage assessors and vegetation specialists. Towns and cities in the path include Port Arthur, Texas; Cameron, Louisiana; Morgan City, Louisiana, and New Orleans, Louisiana. There are several LNG facilities in the Port Arthur area, in addition to the large Plaquemines LNG facility just south of New Orleans. Plaquemines is expected to be operational later this year. Stay safe out there!
Entergy news release: https://lnkd.in/d-U5h69N
Cleco news release: https://lnkd.in/dJ9Ud7ah
NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration live satellite loop: https://lnkd.in/dWBNuuWu
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) U.S. interactive energy atlas: https://lnkd.in/d97NmvdA
Image sources: National Hurricane Center, Mississippi’s ABC affiliate Jackson's 16 WAPT, and U.S. Energy Information Administration.