Hurricane Harvey Floods Entergy's Substations and Infrastructure

Sept. 16, 2017
After Hurricane Harvey flooded Texas, more than 3,300 Entergy employees and contractors spent two weeks restoring power to all the customers who could safely receive it.

When Hurricane Harvey inflicted not-seen-before damage to Entergy's service territory, the utility quickly responded. More than 3,300 of its employees and contractors from Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana worked together to restore power to 192,000 customers within two weeks. The linemen cannot restore power to the remaining 4,000 customers at this time due to high water or severe flood damage.  

Entergy is continuing to inspect, repair, and replace meters as well as rebuilding its electric system. By using mobile substations, the utility was able to reconfigure its system to restore power. Four mobile substations were brought in to bypass damaged substations, while additional equipment was added to other substations to restore power to those locations that could receive it. In the next few weeks, the company plans to add back in some contingencies and redundancies to ensure reliability, and replace temporary and damaged equipment with new, upgraded assets.

“Hurricane Harvey caused destruction across our state like we haven’t seen before,” said Sallie Rainer, president and CEO of Entergy Texas. “Many employees left behind families and damaged homes to work night and day to safely get the lights back on for our customers."

The flooding event caused by Hurricane Harvey brought record-breaking rainfall and unprecedented crests of local rivers, lakes and waterways. The flooding began in Entergy Texas’ western territory, and then for six days, the hurricane moved at a snail’s pace across the Entergy Texas footprint, dropping more than 30 inches of rain in some areas, flooding neighborhoods and businesses, and damaging Energy's substations and transmission lines. 

Here are some photos, which are provided by Entergy, which provide a glimpse into the damage caused by the hurricane, as well as the restoration process. 

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