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HOUSTON (ICIS)–Regional power distributor Entergy has restored electrical service to 225,000 of the estimated 950,000 customers who lost service after Hurricane Ida made landfall on Sunday as a powerful category 4 storm.
Restoration work is proceeding as safely as possible, the company said.
Distribution system damage in Louisiana and Mississippi includes 14,527 poles, 17,454 spans of wire and 3,277 transformers damaged or destroyed.
Of the 224 affected transmission substations, 106 have returned to service as of Thursday afternoon, as well as 82 of 211 affected transmission lines.
More than 1,380 miles of transmission lines remain out of service.
“For our industrial customers, restoration priority is to power critical community services such as fire, police, hospitals and water and communication services,” Entergy said.
Poweroutage.us is showing just more than 850,000 customers without power in the state, which likely includes electrical service from other power distributors.
Damage assessments are continuing at refineries and chemical plants in the region, but operations cannot restart until feedstock supply, power, and other essential third-party utilities are restored.
While the impact will be much less severe than from winter storm Uri in mid-February, the power outages and flooding will constrain production for weeks.
Products most impacted include the chlor-alkali chain all the way through polyvinyl chloride (PVC), methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), styrene, linear alpha olefins (LAO), phthalic anhydride (PA) and butanediol (BDO).
PLANT STATUS The following shows the status of the chemical plants and refineries affected by Ida.
RAIL UPDATE Union Pacific (UP) has resumed operations from St James to New Orleans, although generators remain in place for signal and gate operations until commercial power is restored, the rail company said on Friday.
Interchange with Norfolk Southern resumed Thursday evening, although no interchange operations are occurring during the city-mandated curfew from 8pm-6am.
Interchange with all other carriers in New Orleans remains under embargo.
Due to flooding associated with the remnants of Hurricane Ida in the US northeast, Norfolk Southern has issued embargoes impacting intermodal shipments on their networks, UP said on Friday.
However, Norfolk Southern said on Friday it has resumed regular operations in New Orleans, but delays are expected to continue due to slow orders and signal issues.
Interchanges are open except for the interchange to Canadian National which is still blocked.
Floodwaters in New Jersey and New York have receded overnight, but there are many locations that are still unavailable until debris is cleared, and signal issues are repaired.
Customers with shipments in this area should expect delays up to 48-72 hours.
CSX has also seen the impacts of the storm in the northeast, with disruptions in operations in portions Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Customers are advised to expect delays, it said on Thursday.
It is also continuing repair work on track and signals on the New Orleans and Mobile line.
BNSF has reopened nearly all of its main line between Lafayette, Louisiana, and New Orleans, the US railroad company said on Wednesday.
Just one location, 10 miles (16 km) east of Raceland, remains out of service with downed power lines on the track, BNSF said.
Its rail yard in Lafayette is in full operations.
Interchanges in New Orleans with other carriers, including CSX and Canadian National, remain under embargo.
New Orleans Public Belt, another railroad company, said it has resumed operations with modified hours to connect with BNSF, Norfolk Southern and UP.
PORTS REOPENING The Port of New Orleans reopened on Wednesday afternoon and port conditions are set at normal, but restrictions remain for some terminal operations. Vessel movement and cargo operations are authorised with restrictions.
The Inner Harbor Navigation Canal remains closed.
Terminal operators continue restoration efforts to resume operations, which is dependent upon power restoration.
New Orleans Terminal and Ports America for containerised operations will remain closed until more information is known, and dependent upon power restoration.
Empire, Coastal Cargo, Gulf Stream Marine and Ports America for breakbulk operations will be closed until more information is known, and dependent upon power restoration.
The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) has paused deliveries of crude until assessments and repairs are concluded.
LOOP is working directly with shippers to minimise storm related impacts.
MISSISSIPPI RIVER REOPENS The US Coast Guard has reopened the lower Mississippi river to nearly all vessel traffic, although some key areas along the river remain closed as recovery operations continue.
Some chemicals shipped by barge on the Mississippi river are still likely to be delayed following damage caused by Hurricane Ida.
Coast Guard crews continue to work with port partners on the identification and mitigation of grounded and submerged vessels along the banks of the river.
Facility assessments and repairs are underway.
The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port is the nation’s only deepwater oil port for supertankers. Some 50% of the nation’s refining capacity can be supplied by LOOP, which moves 12% of the nation’s annual crude oil imports.
Additional reporting by Joseph Chang, Janet Miranda, Al Greenwood
Visit the ICIS Hurricane Ida topic page
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