Two Alabama Power workers, both 19, are fatally electrocuted while helping restore power - taking Ida death toll up to seven as desperate Louisianans are left to scavenge for food and wait hours for emergency supplies in the wake of the devastating storm
Two Alabama Power workers were fatally electrocuted while helping to restore power to the area in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida on Tuesday, taking the storm's death toll up to seven.
The victims have been identified as Eli Nathaniel Babb and Layton River Ellison, both 19 year olds who worked with Pike Electric, which does contract work with Alabama Power.
Officials said they were electrocuted when they were doing powerline distribution work and 'came in contact with an energized power line' in western Jefferson County at around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Rescue crews from nearby Hueytown, Adger, Concord, Birmingport and Antioch assisted at the scene, WVTM reports, but the two boys were pronounced dead on the scene at 11:20 a.m.
James Banner, the senior vice president of Pike Electric, called it a 'horrible day' in a statement to Al.com, and said the company's prayers were with their families.
Alabama Power officials also said in a statement: 'We have been made aware of a tragic accident involving Pike Electric employees supporting Alabama Power in storm restoration. Our thoughts are with the Pike Electric family during this time.'
The victims in the electrocution were identified as Layton Ellison and Eli Babb, both 19 year olds who worked for Pike Electric and were contracted to do powerline restoration work for Alabama Power on Tuesday
Crews responded to the scene in western Jefferson County on Tuesday, after two Pike Electric workers were fatally executed
The men, both 19, were pronounced dead on the scene
Officials said they were electrocuted when they were doing powerline distribution work and 'came in contact with an energized power line'
Pike Electric said it will continue to investigate the incident
Pike Electric said it will continue to investigate the incident, but an official cause of death may take four to six weeks to determine.
Their deaths bring the death toll from Hurricane Ida up to seven in the wake of the storm that pummeled Louisiana with heavy winds of 150 mph and torrential downpours that led to devastating floods.
The first victim, a 60-year-old man died in Louisiana on Monday after a tree fell on them in Prairieville, about 15 miles from Baton Rouge, and another victim died while attempting to drive his vehicle through the flooded streets of New Orleans.
Another Louisiana man was eaten by an alligator while wading through waist-deep floodwater in a shed outside their home, before he fell beneath the water. Authorities have not yet been able to locate him.
Two others were killed Monday night when seven vehicles plunged into a 20-foot-deep hole near Lucedale, Mississippi, where a highway had collapsed after torrential rains.
Among the crash victims was Kent Brown, a 'well-liked' 49-year-old father of two, his brother Keith Brown said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. Keith Brown said his brother was in construction but had been out of work for a while. He didn´t know where his brother was headed when the crash happened.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has said he expects the death toll to rise, as Louisianans were left to wander the streets for food and ice on Tuesday, with 650,000 people without access to clean water and more than a million without electricity two days after Hurricane Ida battered the Gulf Coast.
President Joe Biden is set to visit the area on Friday, as the storm moves into the northeast, where it is expected to once again bring heavy rains and flooding.
Dewayne Pellegrin a bowling alley mechanic, cleans up the heavily damaged Bowl South of Louisiana on Tuesday after Ida swept through with 150 mph winds
In the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, Patricia Rodrigue looks over the damage to her house on Tuesday in Houma, Louisiana
Residents carried their own oil tanks as they lined up for fuel in Belle Chasse, Louisiana on Wednesday
Following the news of the two boys' deaths, friends and family took to social media to express their grief.
Nikki Watkins, who identified herself in a Facebook post as Eli Babb's aunt, wrote: 'I ask that you please pray for our family and best friends Heather Babb and James Woody Babb, Ethan, Mrs. Faye and all of their family.
'Today we lost Eli, but God welcomed him into his beautiful mansion,' she wrote, noting that she and 'Uncle Chris' loved him more than he will ever know and were 'so glad' they were able to spend time with him in June.
'We love you sweet boy,' Watkins wrote. 'Our family beach trip will never be the same.'
Daniel Milford, a friend of the family, also posted that he had known Eli 'since he was only a few years old, and he was an awesome kid.
'He will be missed for sure,' Milford wrote, as he asked for donations to the family.
Zoey Callum, a classmate, also said Babb 'always had a smile on his face with so much excitement,' and Maecie Driskill said: 'Rest easy to the sweetest soul, always making sure everyone has a smile on their face and making everyone's days so much better.'
Following the news of his death, friends and family members took to Facebook to share their memories of him and express their grief
Eli Babb was described as a 'sweet boy' who always made people smile
Others also wrote that Ellison, an Alexandria high school baseball star, would be greatly missed, with Ali Bussey writing on Facebook her best friend, Trudy Hardegree, had lost her boyfriend.
'I cannot express how much that woman means to me, and yet it's a tiny drop compared to what Layton means to her,' she wrote, noting that she 'will miss him with his giant smile and ridiculously wild hair so terribly.'
Meanwhile, Candace Davis wrote: 'How can I sleep when my grandson is right here, but one of my dearest friends lost her grandson yesterday at the tender age of 19?
'Oh the pain she is in,' Davis wrote. 'It's absolutely heart breaking.
'Layton Ellison was a light in this world,' she continued. 'From the time I held him at a few days old, I knew he would belong to all of us - this whole community. Yesterday, I saw this entire community pour out their hearts to Trudy, Jerry and Daniel.
'We're all hurting for them, for his sweet friends, for the people he loved and loved him big.'
Davis said after hearing the news she would hold her own grandson 'a little tighter, watch his little chest fall up and down, burn the image of his smile into my brain,' knowing she is not promised another day with him.
'Make sure you know where your loved ones will spend eternity,' she wrote. 'Have the uncomfortable conversations. One day that may be the only thing that brings you peace.
'I know Layton saw Jesus face to face yesterday,' Davis continued. 'Oh the joy he is experiencing.
'So we will take care of his sweet Granna for him, and wait to meet again one day. Rest easy, sweet Layton.'
Layton Ellison, 19, an Alexandria high school baseball star, was a devoted boyfriend, with a friend writing on Facebook that he meant the world to his girlfriend, Trudy Hardegree
His friends also wrote about how devastated they were by his loss on Facebook
Hurricane Ida crashed onto shore in Port Fourchon, Louisiana on Sunday with 150 mph winds and heavy rains.
Ida was the fifth-strongest hurricane to ever make landfall in the U.S when it barreled across the South. As it moved east into Alabama, it brought snapped trees, flipped vehicles and flooded some streets after it temporarily reversed the Mississippi River's flow, according to the Alabama News Center.
It died down as it passed over inland Mississippi. It is now considered a tropical depression as it is headed to the Mid-Atlantic region across southern New York and into New England, where it could bring potentially deadly and damaging flash floods.
'Five inches of rain doesn't happen in this region very often,' CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller said. 'We could easily see some deadly flash floods like we saw in Tennessee last week.'
Nearly 1,000 customers across Alabama remained without power on Wednesday, according to PowerOutage.us, a website that tracks outages across the country, with nearly one million people without power in Louisiana.
They scavenged the area for ice, food and cash, the Wall Street Journal reports, as credit cards were unusable.
But unfortunately for them, much of the ice had already melted away in the end-of-summer heat, as many restaurants remained closed and ATMs were drained of their cash.
Looting was running rampant in the area after Hurricane Ida slammed Louisiana with 150 mph winds and caused extensive flooding. It is now moving into the northeast, where it is expected to once again bring heavy rains and flooding.
Many in Louisiana have since had to swelter in the heat with no electricity, no tap water, very little gasoline and no clear idea of when things might improve.
Long lines that wrapped around the block formed at the few gas stations that had fuel and generator power to pump it. People cleared rotting food out of refrigerators. Neighbors shared generators and borrowed buckets of swimming pool water to bathe or to flush toilets.
Others used generators, raising concerns about carbon monoxide poisoning, with Our Lady of the Lake hospital in Baton Rouge reporting on Tuesday afternoon that it had already treated more than a dozen people for carbon monoxide poisoning, spokesman Ryan Cross said, while the hospitals relied on generators and water reserves.
'We have a lot of work ahead of us and no one is under the illusion that this is going to be a short process,' Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said as the cleanup and rebuilding began across the soggy region in the oppressive late-summer heat.
New Orleans and the rest of the region were under a heat advisory, with forecasters saying the combination of high temperatures and humidity could make it feel like 106 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday.
Some power was returned to parts of New Orleans early Wednesday morning, but nearly one million people in the state continued to be in the dark, and do not know when their suffering will end.
Volunteers with the Cajun Navy Ground Forces pass out relief supplies for people affected by Hurricane Ida in Houma, Louisiana on Tuesday as thousands were left without electricity
Some people in New Orleans were left scavenging the streets for ice, food and water on Tuesday
Julie Allmand, left, and her brother Raymond Hanks, line up for fuel with shopping carts filled with tanks in Belle Chasse, Louisiana on Wednesday, as officials remain unsure when power will be restored
New Orleans residents lined up for food and ice at one of the city's distribution centers on Wednesday
Shadiamond Hite holds one-year-old I'lyn as they wait in line to pick up relief supplies being distributed by volunteers
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said the city was focused on providing assistance for the residents who were unable to escape the storm.
Officials have announced seven places around the city where people could get a meal and sit in air conditioning.
The city was also using 70 transit buses as cooling sites and will have drive-thru food, water and ice distribution locations set up on Wednesday, Cantrell said. Edwards said state officials also were working to set up distribution locations in other areas.
Trucks stocked with food and supplies were staged in Tangipahoa Parish, north of New Orleans, and the National Guard planned to set up at least nine distribution sites on Tuesday in the affected areas.
Supplies including 3.4 million meals, 2.4 million liters of water and 35,700 tarps were sent to the area before the storm, and more than 3,600 FEMA employees were deployed to Louisiana, Mississippi and neighboring states to help with relief efforts as Army Corps of Engineers employees set up power restoration teams.
There were 13 urban search and rescue teams working in Louisiana, which had also deployed more than 5,100 Louisiana National Guard service members to the area in the days before the hurricane struck.
As of Tuesday morning, the crews had rescued 359 people across five parishes.
New Orleans residents lined up around a block to get food and water on Wednesday
People wait in line to buy supplies at a Dollar Store that opened despite having no power following Hurricane Ida
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said the city was focused on providing assistance for the residents who were unable to escape the storm.
Officials have announced seven places around the city where people could get a meal and sit in air conditioning.
The city was also using 70 transit buses as cooling sites and will have drive-thru food, water and ice distribution locations set up on Wednesday, Cantrell said. Edwards said state officials also were working to set up distribution locations in other areas.
Trucks stocked with food and supplies were staged in Tangipahoa Parish, north of New Orleans, and the National Guard planned to set up at least nine distribution sites on Tuesday in the affected areas.
Supplies including 3.4 million meals, 2.4 million liters of water and 35,700 tarps were sent to the area before the storm, and more than 3,600 FEMA employees were deployed to Louisiana, Mississippi and neighboring states to help with relief efforts as Army Corps of Engineers employees set up power restoration teams.
There were 13 urban search and rescue teams working in Louisiana, which had also deployed more than 5,100 Louisiana National Guard service members to the area in the days before the hurricane struck.
As of Tuesday morning, the crews had rescued 359 people across five parishes.
Still, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell ordered a nighttime curfew Tuesday, calling it an effort to prevent crime after Hurricane Ida devastated the power system and left the city in darkness. Police Chief Shaun Ferguson said there had been some arrests for stealing.
And although some lights were back on Wednesday, Entergy didn't immediately say how many homes and business had electricity restored. A company statement said reconnecting all of New Orleans 'will still take time given the significant damage' to the city's power grid.
The company said it was looking to first restore power to 'critical infrastructure' such as hospitals, nursing homes and first responders.
Cantrell acknowledged frustration in the days ahead.
'We know it´s hot. We know we do not have any power, and that continues to be a priority,' she told a news conference.
More than 1 million homes and businesses in Louisiana and Mississippi - including all of New Orleans - were left without power when Ida slammed the electric grid on Sunday with its 150 mph winds, toppling a major transmission tower and knocking out thousands of miles of lines and hundreds of substations.
It died down as it passed over inland Mississippi. It is now considered a tropical depression as it is headed to the Mid-Atlantic region across southern New York and into New England, where it could bring potentially deadly and damaging flash floods.
'Five inches of rain doesn't happen in this region very often,' CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller said. 'We could easily see some deadly flash floods like we saw in Tennessee last week.'
The Maldonado family travel by boat to their home after it flooded during Hurricane Ida in Barataria, Louisiana
Louisianans stopped at a fueling station along Interstate 12 on Wednesday to fill up their tanks for their cars and generators
Vehicles waited in line off Interstate 55 to get gas in McComb, Mississippi, where people from various parts of southeastern Louisiana and local residents flocked to get gas
An estimated 25,000-plus utility workers labored to restore electricity in Louisiana following the storm, but officials said it could take weeks.
With water treatment plants overwhelmed by floodwaters or crippled by power outages, some places were also facing shortages of drinking water. About 441,000 people in 17 parishes had no water, and an additional 319,000 were under boil-water advisories, federal officials said.
Officials warned residents of Jefferson Parish, encompassing suburbs west and south of New Orleans, it could be up to 21 days before power is restored in the area. They also said it could be five days until the water and sewer system is up and running, according to the Wall Street Journal, prompting many residents who decided to ride out the storm to leave.
Some would stay with family out of state, while others searched the available hotel rooms hours from the city.
On Tuesday, traffic on Interstates 10 and 59 east of New Orleans was predominantly flowing out of the city, with vehicles filled with people trying to leave - some of whom lugged gas tanks, clothing and children's bikes strapped to the back.
Tulane University, in the Big Easy, also began evacuating some students to Houston, Texas early Tuesday, as classes remain canceled through September 12. Once the classes resume, they will be online through at least October 6.
The first buses carrying students left at 10 a.m. Tuesday, according to Chron, and any student who was unable to evacuate were able to stay with staff who live in the Bayou City. Emergency funds were also made available for those who needed help getting out.
The university had asked its students to shelter in place on campus as the storm approached the Gulf Coast, and later received backlash on Twitter after claiming the storm made a sudden, unpredicted turn towards the city - even though models days out predicted New Orleans would be slammed by the storm.
It is unclear how many people were in the city during the storm on Sunday, but roughly 582,000 people were able to evacuate from New Orleans and the surrounding parishes in the three days before the storm, according to a tweet from Shawn Wilson, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Transportation, citing an analysis of cellphone and other technology ping data.
A group of international Tulane University students are dropped off at the downtown Hyatt in Houston after evacuating New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida on Tuesday
The first buses left Tulane University at around 10 a.m. Tuesday, after school officials told students to shelter in place
Meanwhile, experts say storm surges from the storm could have caused $15 to $20 billion in insured losses across Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, according to the Wall Street Journal, with California-based Core Logic projecting 941,392 homes are at risk of damage.
In a worst-case scenario in which all of those homes are completely destroyed, Core Logic officials said, it could cost $220.4 billion to rebuild
Allstate has reported that it had set up multiple mobile claim centers in Alabama and Texas, with personnel ready to move into Louisiana and Mississippi ready to move into the area when it is safe and assess the damage.
'We're out of the way, safe, but close enough to quickly get to our customers and heavily-damaged communities, as soon as Ida moves out,' Jerry Samson, senior manager of response for Allstate's national catastrophe team, told the Journal.
The barrier island of Grand Isle, which bore Ida's full fury, is now 'uninhabitable,' with every building damaged, Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng said at a news conference Tuesday. There are also numerous breaks in the levee system and a strong odor of natural gas, she said.
Police Chief Scooter Resweber said he was 'amazed that no one was killed or even seriously injured.'
About half of the properties on the island of about 1,400 people were heavily damaged or destroyed, and the main roadway was nearly completely covered in sand brought in from the tidal surge.
'I´ve ridden out other hurricanes: Hurricane Isaac, Katrina, Gustav, Ike. ... This is the worst,' Resweber said.
In Slidell, crews searched for a 71-year-old man who was attacked by an alligator that tore off his arm as he walked through Ida's floodwaters. His wife pulled him to the steps of the home and paddled away to get help, but when she returned, he was gone, authorities said.
In New Orleans, drivers lined up for roughly a quarter-mile, waiting to get into a Costco that was one of the few spots in the city with gasoline. At other gas stations, motorists occasionally pulled up to the pumps, saw the handles covered in plastic bags and drove off.
Adding to the misery was the steamy weather.
A heat advisory was issued for New Orleans and the rest of the region, with forecasters saying the combination of high temperatures and humidity could make it feel like 105 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday and 106 on Wednesday.
Cynthia Andrews couldn't go back to her New Orleans home if she wanted to. She was in a wheelchair, tethered by a power cord to the generator system running the elevators and hallway lights at the Le Meridien hotel.
When the power went out Sunday, the machine that helps Andrews breathe after a lung collapse in 2018 stopped working. The hotel let her stay in the lobby, giving her a cot after she spent nearly a whole night in her wheelchair.
'It was so scary, but as long as this thing keeps running, I´ll be OK,' she said.
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