Hurricane Update No. 22
6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020
Shreveport, La., (Sept. 8, 2020) – SWEPCO is asking most Central Louisiana customers who remain without power after 10 p.m. this evening (Tuesday) to report their outage again.
For some customers in the Hicks area, especially along Hwy. 121 to Leander, repair work will continue into Wednesday evening. Customers in the Hicks area who don’t have power by Wednesday night should report their outage again at that time.
“Hicks is one of our hardest hit communities, and work continues through the extensive damage in that area,” said Drew Seidel, SWEPCO vice president of Distribution Region Operations.
“As we finish work on all the main circuits, we know there may still be individual customers without power,” Seidel said. “Reporting any remaining outages will help assure that we don’t miss anyone in this final stage of service restoration.”
To report an outage, use the SWEPCO app (available for download via the App Store or Google Play), log on to SWEPCO.com, or call 1-888-218-3919.
Some customers have damage to their weatherhead, which will need to be repaired by a qualified electrician before SWEPCO can safely reconnect power. Typically, this is the pipe rising from the meter box and other parts of the service entrance, which can be pulled away from the building or otherwise damaged by high winds and downed trees. These facilities are owned by the customer. After repairs are made, call SWEPCO to have service reconnected restored.
As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, crews were working to restore service to about 2,500 Central Louisiana customers, including some new outages that occurred today.
SWEPCO has restored power to almost 40,000, or about 94% of the 42,000 customers who lost power in Bienville, DeSoto, Grant, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine, Vernon and Winn parishes.
For all of SWEPCO, power has been restored to more than 133,000 customers, or 98%, of those without power after Hurricane Laura struck SWEPCO’s service area as a Category 2 storm on Thursday, Aug. 27.
Public Safety
Louisiana residents can call 211 to find cooling centers and other assistance.
Be careful when driving or walking in all utility crew work zones.
Maintain at least six feet of physical distance between yourself and SWEPCO field personnel as we all play a crucial role in preventing the spread of coronavirus.
Workers are practicing social distancing and other measures to stay healthy and prevent the spread of coronavirus, making the recovery effort especially challenging.
Downed power lines – Never touch a downed utility wire, no matter how harmless it looks. Don't touch anything in contact with the line, such as trees, fences or puddles of water. Stay away and keep others away. Call SWEPCO immediately
Portable generators – If you use a portable or RV generator, do not plug the generator into your circuit box. Portable generators "backfeed" electricity up the line and risk the lives of repair workers and the public. Follow the manufacturers' instructions carefully, and plug essential appliances directly into the generator.
For updates and photos, see SWEPCO.com and follow SWEPCO on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
About Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO)
SWEPCO, an American Electric Power (AEP: NYSE) company, serves more than 543,000 customers in northwest and central Louisiana, northeast Texas and the Texas Panhandle, and western Arkansas. SWEPCO's headquarters are in Shreveport, La. News releases and other information about SWEPCO can be found at SWEPCO.com. Connect with us at Facebook.com/SWEPCO, Twitter.com/SWEPCOnews, Instagram.com/swepco, Youtube.com/SWEPCOtv, LinkedIn.com/company/swepco and SWEPCOConnections.com.