The following has been released to Q93 from Cleco:
 

PINEVILLE, La. – Sept. 1, 2020 – As of 3 p.m. today, power has been restored to 68 percent of the 140,000 customers affected by Hurricane Laura.  

Statewide, Cleco’s system experienced extensive damage, including damage to its transmission and distribution equipment.  Thus far, during initial damage assessments, crews have found 1,200 broken poles, 900broken transformers, 3,700 broken crossarms, 4,500 trees on power lines and approximately 280 miles of distribution conductor down, and 639 miles of transmission linesdamaged or down.  With restoration efforts ongoing, the company expects these numbers to increase.

“Each day the number of customers receiving power improves, which means we’re making steady progress,” said James Lass, director of distribution operations and emergency management.  “Cleco has over 3,000 personnel dedicated to restoration efforts with more Cleco resources and contractor crews coming each day, as they complete restoration in other areas.”

Below are customer outages by parish as of 3 p.m.

For additional information on Cleco’s storm restoration efforts, follow the company on Facebook @ClecoPower or visit Cleco’s Storm Center page at cleco.com/storm-center.