City Experiences Damage, Outages From Severe Weather
Alexandria, La. (Dec. 16, 2019)—A line of severe weather that passed through Alexandria today, Dec. 16, brought some tornadic activity and caused some significant damage to buildings, roadways, power lines and such mostly on the western side of the city along the Hwy. 28 West corridor, according to Alexandria Utility Systems Director Michael Marcotte.
“We are blessed,” Alexandria Mayor Jeffrey W. Hall said. “This could have been so much worse, but we have had no loss of life and that’s the most important thing. Crews are assessing damage now and making repairs to utilities. We will work to restore power as quickly and safely as possible, but there is a lot of damage to poles and lines in the area around Highway 28 West.”
“We have some scattered power outages, but there are crews working in every area,” Marcotte said. “There are a number of broken utility poles in areas in and around Highway 28 West, from Wal-Mart to Johnny Downs, Sabine, LaSalle and Browns Bend Road, Hot Wells and St. Andrews.”
The majority of outages are the result of broken poles, downed tree limbs and downed wires. The hardest hit areas are in the vicinity of Port Road, Martha Land, Sabine and LaSalle streets, Browns Bend Road, Hwy. 28 West as well as Sugarhouse Road (Lawson Heights). “City and contractor crews will work as long as it is safe to restore service as quickly and safely as possible,” explained Marcotte. “Some of the damage is severe and while we are working quickly, those areas may take longer to restore power.”
Customers are asked to report downed trees, trees on power lines, debris blocking roadways and outages online through the AlexConnects app. Downed wires, poles and other equipment should be reported to the Electric Distribution Department at (318) 473-1301. Residents are reminded to avoid downed lines as they may still be energized.
Highway 28 West is reopened but traffic lights remain out in some areas. The City urges drivers to stay off the roads if possible and to find alternate routes to your destination rather than trying to travel 28 West.
Photo Attachments:
DSC_0692: A broken utility pole lies in the street on John Allison Drive. A tornado moved through western Alexandria Monday causing significant damage to buildings and utility power lines in the vicinity of the Johnny Downs Sports Complex.
DSC_0702: Utility poles can be seen leaning along Highway 28 West. Also visible is the extensive damage at the Johnny Downs Sports Complex. A tornado moved through western Alexandria Monday causing significant damage to buildings and utility power lines in the area.
DSC_0714: Utility repair personnel work to replace a broken utility pole near the Consolidated City Compound on Industrial Park Road. A tornado moved through western Alexandria Monday causing significant damage to buildings and utility power lines in the vicinity of the Johnny Downs Sports Complex.
Contact:
Jim Smilie
Communications
318.449.5038 (Office), 318.730.1683 (Cell)
jim.smilie@cityofalex.com
