NEW ORLEANS (AP) 69制片厂制作传媒 Two days after knocked out power for nearly half a million people in Louisiana, Alexandra Canary was still waiting for the electricity in her area to come back online.
As her fridge continued to thaw out, the New Orleans resident began to clean out condiments at risk of spoiling. One of her small dogs watched from the couch, panting. Without air conditioning the home heated up quick, as the heat index reached 93 degrees Fahrenheit (33.9 degrees Celsius) on Friday.
69制片厂制作传媒淚t69制片厂制作传媒檚 been tough trying to sleep, or even live,69制片厂制作传媒 Canary, who is in her 70s said. 69制片厂制作传媒淪omedays it is actually cooler outside than being in the house.69制片厂制作传媒
Frustration mounted across New Orleans, as crews for the city69制片厂制作传媒檚 electrical provider, Entergy, worked to restore power.
69制片厂制作传媒淓very single storm, every one, no matter how big or how small, the same thing happens,69制片厂制作传媒 said Rudy Cerone, 71, referring to the power outages. 69制片厂制作传媒淓ntergy just doesn69制片厂制作传媒檛 seem to take the necessary preparatory actions to harden this system to provide the power that we69制片厂制作传媒檙e paying through the nose for.69制片厂制作传媒
An Entergy New Orleans spokesperson said the city had restored power to more than 40,000 customers since Thursday and that many more would regain electricity by the end of the day Friday. Around 6,500 Entergy customers in the city lacked power as of Friday afternoon, part of about 95,000 customers in Louisiana still without electricity, according to the tracking site .
The spokesperson also said the information used to update outage numbers comes from crews in the field.
69制片厂制作传媒淭hese steps take time, and our teams are committed to providing customers with the latest restoration information as it is available,69制片厂制作传媒 the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
After losing electricity Wednesday night, Richard Smith, 56, owner of Adams Street Grocery & Deli, had been running his New Orleans store off a generator. But the electricity source wasn't enough to power the deep fryer machine. So customers had to settle for cold cuts instead of hot fried chicken sandwiches, and pay in cash instead of with credit cards, he said.
Power was restored late Friday afternoon, not a moment too soon.
69制片厂制作传媒淭his is the time we are supposed to be busy and we lost a lot of business,69制片厂制作传媒 Smith said. 69制片厂制作传媒淎 lot of people thought we were closed.69制片厂制作传媒
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said electricity is the major issue facing the state since Francine rolled through.
69制片厂制作传媒淭he biggest challenge we have had in this storm is utilities 69制片厂制作传媒 trying to get the power back on,69制片厂制作传媒 Landry said at a news conference Friday afternoon.
Prior to Francine making landfall, utility crews were pre-positioned in areas that would likely be impacted by power outages, Landry said.
Davante Lewis, an elected member of the state Public Service Commission that regulates utilities, did a ride along on Thursday with Entergy to assess the damage. He said much of it was broken branches and trees 69制片厂制作传媒 likely in the state 69制片厂制作传媒 on power lines.
69制片厂制作传媒淚 think what we are seeing right now is a lot of vegetation issues and we just don69制片厂制作传媒檛 have enough hands to move it (debris) that fast or enough hours in the day to safely do so in sunlight,69制片厂制作传媒 Lewis said.
Utility crews from Oklahoma, Florida, Texas and elsewhere are working to restore power, Lewis said, with projections for full restoration by Sunday.
69制片厂制作传媒淎ny amount of time without power in Louisiana, especially for vulnerable communities, is too long,69制片厂制作传媒 Lewis said. 69制片厂制作传媒淏ut we have seen restoration times a lot shorter than some of the earlier predictions and we are faring better.69制片厂制作传媒
The storm, which drew fuel from , came ashore Wednesday in Louisiana with 100 mph (160 kph) winds and drenched a large swath of the South, including parts of Arkansas and Florida. Forecasters say the storm's slow progress will mean days of heavy rain in the Southeast, creating a flash flooding risk.
Another 3 to 6 inches (8 to 15 centimeters), with about 8 inches (20 centimeters) in some locations, were expected in parts of central and northern Alabama through Sunday. In northeastern Mississippi, western Tennessee, western Georgia and the Florida Panhandle, another 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) was expected.
No deaths or serious injuries have been reported in Francine's aftermath.
Rushing water in a New Orleans underpass, trapping the driver inside. A 39-year-old emergency room nurse who lived nearby waded into the waist-high water with a hammer, smashed the window and pulled out the driver. The rescue was captured live by WDSU-TV.
69制片厂制作传媒淚t69制片厂制作传媒檚 just second nature I guess, being a nurse, you just go in and get it done, right?69制片厂制作传媒 Miles Crawford told The Associated Press on Thursday. 69制片厂制作传媒淚 just had to get to get him out of there.69制片厂制作传媒
In the coastal community of Cocodrie in southern Louisiana, where many families own seasonal homes along the bayou for fishing, police guarded a road to prevent looting as people cleaned their properties.
For many in the area bordered by bayous, swamps, lakes and the Gulf of Mexico, threats of flooding and hurricanes , Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre said.
Over the years, the area has become more resilient against storms, improving drainage and pumping stations and replacing roofs that can better withstand hurricane-force winds. Residents are also evacuating more quickly when there are significant storm threats, Webre said.
69制片厂制作传媒淭his population is very resilient. They69制片厂制作传媒檙e very independent. They69制片厂制作传媒檙e very pioneering,69制片厂制作传媒 he said.
Cline reported from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Associated Press writers Kevin McGill in New Orleans and Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg, Florida, contributed to this story.
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