FirstEnergy Crews From Pittsburgh Region Helping Restore Power In Louisiana
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- In the wake of Hurricane Ida, more than one million people were in the dark.
But one local utility company is in Louisiana helping restore power to homes and families.
According to Entergy, the electric company that services parts of Louisiana, about 60 percent of customers have had their power restored. It has been a team effort, including crews from FirstEnergy.
FirstEnergy spokesperson Lauren Siburkis told KDKA that crews have been working on restoring miles of power lines for about a week.
"The work includes resetting many utility poles, restringing miles of power lines and replacing electrical devices," Siburkis said.
A fleet of more than 500 line workers, including 50 from the Pittsburgh region, have been making repairs across the Lousiana power grid while battling triple-digit temperatures, high humidity and unexpected encounters with wildlife.
"There are alligators down here. From this hurricane, the flood waters displaced alligators in locations where alligators don't usually live," Siburkis said.
But as merciless as the storm was, Siburkis has noticed that from the rubble, empathy rises.
"People are coming outside from their homes that have no power or air conditioning, and they are offering cold drinks and pizza to feed our line crews," Siburkis said.
Those FirstEnergy crews could remain on the ground in Louisiana for two more weeks.
