Unexpected Power

We have power! I hope it lasts.....

I rode out to the levee this morning shortly after sunrise, carefully avoiding all of the debris in the road, and logged a few miles - my first since Saturday. Along River Road in Jefferson there were long sections where all of the power poles were lying across the road. As they went down, they also pulled down the lines that crossed the levee. Those power lines and support cables were lying across the bike path in a number of locations, but it easy to ride over them. Farther down, near the end of Jefferson Parish, there was a low-hanging guy wire with caution tape hanging from it. It was practically where I had planned to turn back, so I didn't bother trying to go under it. Along the way I passed the huge tower that holds up one end of the big power transmission cables that cross the Mississippi to the big power plant on the westbank. The corresponding tower on the other side is the one that collapsed. 

Later in the day our neighbor brought over a full 5-gallon gas can. Last night we had run an extension cord from his larger generator to our little emergency window unit, which allowed us to sleep in blissful comfort. I got a few things done, but people are still scattered all over the place and difficult to contact, so it was kind of frustrating. By evening I was more than ready for a glass of wine, or two. Around 8:30 pm I went out on the relatively cool front porch (inside it was around 85°F) where I could hear the musician group down the street. I'd almost fallen asleep when I heard them suddenly stop playing as they let out a loud group cheer. I opened my eyes to find that the lights in the house were on! I was shocked. I'd been fully expecting another week without electricity. The neighbors along Neron Place were still in the dark, but since we're on the corner our power comes from the line that goes down Pine Street and S. Claiborne. What luck! I waited about ten minutes, expecting something to blow up and put us in the dark again, but it didn't happen, so we fired up the house air-conditioner, closed up the windows, and unplugged all of the extension cords running all through the house. Finally I went out to the back yard and turned the generator off.

Somehow Entergy had figured out a way to get a significant amount of power back into the city. Got to give them credit for that.