Pelican Point area still without power, neighbors anxious for information
GONZALES - Some people are desperate for answers after watching their neighbors' lights come back on but there's have not. Pockets of neighborhoods are in the dark more than a week after the storm.
Ascension Parish and people living in the Pelican Point area are along the streets where there's confusion over why some have and don't have power. People there tell 2 On Your Side they're hot and bothered by the lack of information they are getting from Entergy. All they want to know is when they're getting power back.
Andrew Phillips says the power went out in his neighborhood around seven o'clock the night Hurricane Ida rolled through. It's been out ever since.
"There's no breeze or anything, we have the windows open, but it doesn't make any difference," Phillips said.
Some of Phillips' neighbors have a portable or whole-home generator. He does not. His generous neighbor has given him some power for his fridge, and at night he sleeps on his screened-in porch. He says it's cooler than inside his house, which has reached 94 degrees.
Phillips says he's getting by but is worried about his neighbors in Pelican Point, River Ridge, Pelican Crossing, and Ascension Trace.
And frustration is reaching a boiling point.
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"It's the lack of information that we're getting from Entergy," he said.
What information they are getting, Phillips says, isn't accurate.
"We still don't know when we're getting power," he said. "We were told it was going to be Tuesday. Now it's Thursday.
Phillips says his neighborhood is no stranger to outages. He says Pelican Point has experienced outages recently that have lasted for at least 16 hours when no weather has been in the area. But this 10-day stretch is by far the worst.
"There are 2,000 houses involved here, so it's quite a lot of people," he said.
While the lines in the neighborhood are buried, Phillips and other neighbors suspect there's a big issue with where the power is generated from.
"For whatever reason, when they built this development, they ended up taking power from Reserve," he said.
Other newer subdivisions in the area have already had power back for days.
Entergy tells 2 On Your Side it's working to return a transmission source to the area to be able to energize feeders on the distribution level (power lines serving the neighborhood). It was one of the more harder-hit areas. Entergy is aware of the outage and is working quickly and safely to return service. Entergy was unable to say where the transmission source is located. It was also unable to provide a restoration timeline.
"I have to give a big thanks to all the linemen out there doing all the work, but we've had the outage map showing that we had power," Phillips said.
They do not have power but are hoping it'll be back soon.