Louisiana hit by severe storms

(Baton Rouge, Louisiana) – Following the aftermath of tornadic weather on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas have

dispatched forty line workers from Petit Jean Electric Cooperative of Clinton, Arkansas, and Arkansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. in Little Rock to DEMCO. South Louisiana Electric Cooperative Association (SLECA), a Louisiana sister cooperative headquartered in Houma, Louisiana, dispatched a construction crew of seven along with construction equipment.

Upon arrival, all crews were oriented to DEMCO’s system and given a safety briefing. All crews are working to ensure all outages and damages are rectified. With peak outages at 26,000 on Wednesday, DEMCO now reports less than 4,500. DEMCO and assisting crews will continue to work safely and diligently to restore power to all their members.

DEMCO serves over 116,500 meters in seven southeast parishes of Louisiana.

Jeff Davis Electric’s system in Jennings, Louisiana, suffered over 20 broken poles and significant outages—numerous cross-arms and severe tree damage in certain areas. 2,077 members were out of power. Jeff Davis has completed restoration as of April 11.

Washington-St. Tammany Electric in Franklinton, Louisiana, was hit with an EF2 tornado with 120 mph winds, causing significant damage to its system. Roughly 17,000 system outages occurred. WSTE has made a complete restoration.

Claiborne Electric in Homer, Louisiana, had 11,000 outages and is almost at complete restoration. It had extensive tree damage and multiple broken poles.

Beauregard Electric in DeRidder, Louisiana, had 22,396 outages and plans to complete restoration by the end of the day on April 12. Some of BECi’s service areas were inaccessible due to high water.

SLECA, in Houma, Louisiana, had 2,221 members out of power. They are at complete restoration.

Panola-Harrison Electric Cooperative, in Marshall, Texas, ALEC with service territory in northwest Louisiana, had around 12,000 outages due to the loss of the Texas transmission line. PHEC also experienced high water levels in some areas and down trees and powerlines. They are almost at complete restoration.

Please immediately call your service provider and local authorities if you see any downed powerlines or poles. Do not approach or drive over the line; stay at least 50 feet away.

The Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperatives is a non-profit organization representing the electric distribution cooperatives operating in Louisiana. The Louisiana Electric Cooperatives serve roughly 1 million citizens in 50 parishes.

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