UPDATE: The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) is confirming five additional winter storm-related deaths, bringing the total number of deaths in Louisiana to eight.
The DeSoto Parish coroner has confirmed the death of a 79-year-old female who died due to hypoxia following the failure of an electrically powered oxygen concentrator during a power outage, as well as the death of a 46-year-old male who died in a motor vehicle accident while traveling on icy roads.
The Sabine Parish coroner has confirmed the deaths of a 62-year-old male and a 59-year-old female, both of whom died in their homes of suspected hypothermia following a power outage. The coroner has confirmed these deaths are being investigated as storm-related deaths.
The Franklin Parish coroner has confirmed the death of a 78-year-old female who died due to hypothermia.
BATON ROUGE — Three deaths have been attributed to the bitter winter weather that’s engulfed Louisiana, and state officials said the extreme cold is likely to blame for three more brought to their attention.
The worst might still be ahead as even colder temperatures are forecast for the state overnight, where more than 125,000 residents in its northern and central sections remained without electricity Monday afternoon.
Icy roads and downed trees are hindering power restoration efforts, with some portions of rural Northeast Louisiana possibly having to wait until Thursday to get reconnected.
Gov. Jeff Landry urged residents to stay put so that utility crews can continue their work and first responders don’t have to take unnecessary risks to aid stranded motorists.
“Just because a road is passable does not mean it’s safe,” Landry said Tuesday during an update on the state’s response to the weather event.
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State climatologist Jay Grymes said much of northern Louisiana will see temperatures down to the teens by Tuesday morning, with single-digits reading possible in some areas. Down in the state’s coastal parishes, readings in the 20s are forecast.
“Even though we’re done with the freezing rain, the sleet and the snow, we’re still a long way from being out of the woods in terms of the cold,” Grymes said. “The dangerous and potentially deadly cold will continue through the week.”
An 86-year-old DeSoto Parish man and his two pets were found dead at his home Monday morning, KSLA-TV reported. The state health department attributed his death to carbon monoxide poisoning, and State Fire Marshal Bryan Adams confirmed the man was using a generator in the garage adjacent to his home.
Over the weekend, the deaths of two unidentified men in Caddo Parish were blamed on the severe cold, one of whom was found near the Shreveport YMCA.
Louisiana Health Secretary Bruce Greenstein confirmed hypothermia caused their deaths, and he said two more fatalities being investigated are also believed to be from exposure to the subfreezing conditions.
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“We think that the hypothermia deaths are avoidable. We really implore you to basically take care of yourself and take care of your neighbors,” said Greenstein, who directed residents to the state’s Get a Game Plan website and cellphone app for more information on warming centers that have been set up around the state.
More than 60 warming centers were open as of Monday afternoon, and the governor said the state is fielding requests from parishes to open additional locations.
The need for warming centers is expected to last as long as parts of the state struggle to have their power restored. Outages during the winter storm reached 175,000 customers at their peak, Public Service Commission executive director Brandon Frey said. That number had been reduced to 125,000 as of Monday afternoon.
The problem was most severe in rural areas of Northeast Louisiana. In East Carroll Parish, 95% of its nearly 3,400 customers did not have power as of 3:45 p.m. Monday, and almost 60% of West Carroll’s 2,500 customers were in the same predicament, according to the tracking website FindEnergy.com. The outage rate was also high for Richland Parish, where 58% of its 9,200 customers awaited restoration.
The situation was also acute in Ouachita Parish, where 57% of 83,000 customers didn’t have electricity Monday afternoon. Officials there were also dealing with water service issues. Greenstein said St. Francis Medical Center in Monroe reported it was experiencing low water pressure, though he expected the problem to be resolved shortly. The hospital is part of the Franciscan Missionaries of our Lady health care system, which sent two tanker trucks to the Monroe facility to address what public relations director called “intermittent water pressure fluctuations.”
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At the University of Louisiana Monroe, residential halls housing 440 students remained without power, though school officials said they are still safe for students. A warming center was made available on campus.
Entergy Louisiana serves all four parishes and reported the largest number of outages remaining statewide at roughly 84,000. Company CEO Philip May said 90% of its customers that aren’t dealing with access issues to have their power restored, such as closed roads or downed power lines, should have their electricity back by Wednesday. The utility has 4,300 workers in the field handling restoration, May said.
For Entergy customers where crews can’t access their service lines, it could take until Thursday for their power to come back on. Anyone with home damage from the winter storm will need to consult an electrician to determine if they can have their power restored, May said.
Some 24,500 SWEPCO customers should have electricity by Wednesday, and the bulk of more than 5,100 CLECO customers are expected to have their power back Tuesday, according to Frey.
More than 1,500 state highway workers are actively clearing roads of ice and debris, Transportation Secretary Glenn Ledet said, and employees from southern Louisiana are being sent north to help.
The governor said his staff has been in touch with the Federal Emergency Management Agency with a request to elevate the federal emergency declaration for Louisiana. The hope is FEMA can provide resources to assist the state with debris clearing, though the Trump administration has slashed funding and personnel at the agency.
Another round of freezing weather is expected to impact Louisiana this weekend, though Grymes said it should not include the sleet or ice that created the current hazardous conditions.
– Julie O’Donoghue and Piper Hutchinson contributed to this report.
Editor’s Note: The following article from author Greg LaRose was originally published by the Louisiana Illuminator, an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization with a mission to cast light on how decisions in Baton Rouge are made and how they affect the lives of everyday Louisianians.
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