Power to be restored to New Orleans by middle of next week

By REBECCA SANTANA, MELINDA DESLATTE and KEVIN McGILL
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Power should be restored to almost all of New Orleans by the middle of next week. That’s according to the utility company Entergy, which issued a statement Friday asking for patience in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. Utility executives say more than 25,000 workers from 40 states are trying to fix 14,000 damaged poles, more than 2,200 broken transformers and more than 150 destroyed transmission structures. Ida destroyed the city’s electrical grid and left more than 1 million customers in Louisiana without power. Meanwhile, sheriff’s deputies from outside the city warned people returning in Ida’s aftermath to come equipped like survivalists because of the lack of basic services.