Full power expected by today137 were without electricity Sunday

Published 12:00 am Monday, September 3, 2012

Entergy-Mississippi expected to have power fully restored by today in Vicksburg and Warren County as crews wrapped up repairs to downed lines and broken utility poles.

“We have 137 customers remaining without power,” Entergy spokesman Don Arnold said late Sunday afternoon. “Everyone should be back on by midnight.”

Further south in Claiborne County, Sheriff Marvin Lucas said all power in that area had been restored.

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In other areas of the state, several thousand customers remained without power. Entergy reported more than 2,600 outages; and, an association of not-for-profit electricity providers in the state reported more than 5,500 remaining outages.

The damage from Isaac became clearer on Sunday as Mississippi officials told the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano that more than 1,500 homes were flooded by swollen rivers and that hundreds of people had to be rescued from raging flood waters.

Napolitano visited Mississippi one day before President Barack Obama was scheduled to see first-hand Isaac’s destruction in Louisiana.

Napolitano was told about 1,600 or more homes were flooded by overflowing rivers and two people reportedly died in Mississippi. Most of the damage was in Pearl River and Jackson counties.

The secretary praised emergency officials and said Obama was calling her frequently for updates.

“The president has been on top of it,” she said. “We are here, we have been here, we will remain here.”

In Louisiana, floodwater lingered in Plaquemines Parish, more than 240,000 electricity customers sweltered without power and officials north of Lake Pontchartrain kept a wary eye on waterways swollen by Hurricane Isaac.

The storm made landfall Tuesday, but residents are still suffering days later.

Much of New Orleans had electricity, but work crews continued to deal with toppled trees and downed power lines.

North of Lake Pontchartrain, a mandatory evacuation near the Bush community was dialed back to a voluntary evacuation after authorities stabilized a lock on the Pearl River Diversion Canal. But officials said the West Pearl River was in danger of flooding.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was set to visit storm-struck areas of south Mississippi and Louisiana on Sunday. President Barack Obama was expected in Louisiana today.

Officials in St. Tammany Parish said the danger of a lock failing on a Pearl River canal has eased. A mandatory evacuation is no longer in effect, although Parish President Pat Brister is maintaining a voluntary evacuation status for people in hundreds of homes near Lock Number 2 on the canal.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers worked overnight to stabilize the lock, which has been in caretaker status since 1995.

Still, a flood threat remains in parts of St. Tammany. Parish spokeswoman Suzanne Parsons said Sunday that officials are keeping an eye farther south and advising residents to stay vigilant for information on the swelling West Pearl River. Waterways north of Lake Pontchartrain have been rising with the passage of Hurricane Isaac.

In Arkansas, crews are surveying damage in eastern Arkansas after more storms battered the state this weekend.

Meteorologists with The National Weather Service said Sunday that survey teams are looking at whether damage in Clay and Prairie counties was caused by straight-line winds or tornadoes.

Arkansas Department of Emergency Management spokesman Tommy Jackson says several counties saw damage from Saturday’s storms, but there weren’t any reports of injuries.

Jackson says a few hangers were damaged at the Corning Municipal Airport in Clay County. Many areas also saw downed trees because of the storms.

Forecasters say the weather in Arkansas is looking better the rest of the Labor Day weekend.

Nearly 7,000 customers in Arkansas were without power after more severe weather blew through the state.

That number on Sunday was down from more than 10,000 power outages on Saturday. Most of the outages were caused by severe thunderstorms Saturday afternoon, though some customers remained without power from the remnants of Isaac.