and entergy is trying to get the power back connected. are not getting power back at all. the utility is assessing the damage and identifying a path forward to restore power, and according to a release power will not be restored this evening, but we will continue to work to remedy. the issue is that when this happened the demand for power and generation of power imbalance, and that's what knocks the power out and the power is most urgently needed to pump the water out of the city so that's where the energy is going to go right now, so unfortunately, if you are in new orleans it's rather unlikely you will be getting power back tonight. also if you are in the city, the hotline for the sewage water board is down. 504-864-8266 is the number to call. people in much of louisiana and mississippi are feeling much of hurricane ida tonight. let's hear from mr. mitchell. how are things looking where you are? is the power out? >> yeah, we can tell ghost stories, in you want? >> no, i scare to easy. >> we mentioned the power is out across new orleans

let me start with the issue of power and our friends at entergy.unds to me like three days before they start to work on repairs. what is the situation, is there any way to speed it up? >> first, thanks for having me to talk about our coordination here for louisiana for the impacts from hurricane ida. as you pointed out, power is a critical issue. it will be critical for the response efforts overall. it is going to be a challenge. a category four storm, stayed a category four significant time as it moved inland. there's damage to transmission lines and to distribution. the main transmission lines as you pointed out in new orleans are down. it is a complicated situation. we are well sinked up, ensuring whatever support we provide through the restoration we'll do so. the other important part is while power is out, we are working hard to bring in generators with partners at the army core of engineers for critical facilities, hospitals, water treatment plans, so they continue to operate while the restoration effort continues. >> want to ask about the le

all of the transmission has stopped from entergy, the company that sends transmission out.y said it will take a long time to fix. while we're seeing these bucket trucks out there trying to clean some of this stuff off the streets, they are trying to restore some of the power lines. in most places, that restores the power. that's not the case here. until entergy is able to flip the switch and get power back out, people are not getting power. now, they will give priority to police, police stations, infrastructure, hospitals, the sewage and drainage system here in new orleans. they will try to get them going first. they have said they will be able to get most people power within 7 to 10 days. but in the hard hit parts of new orleans and outside of new orleans in those parishes to the west and to the south where there is flooding and there has been more danger, they say it might be three weeks or longer. that's a problem, chris, because while it is dried out and while the city did not flood, this power outage in the middle of summer in a city that feels like it is 100 degrees i

entergy, the main power company in this part of the state, say these systems typically have redundancy built in, but all of it was wiped out by ida. contract crews from mp put up new power lines in new orleans this was a large-scale effort that required state troopers to entirely shut down interstate 10 so crews could run power lines across the road by hand. cables were hoisted up on other side and attached to utility poles. this is just a small piece of what it will take and more manpower is on the way entergy says 22,000 workers from 22 states will eventually make their way here from kansas and missouri they left for new orleans today and say they're anxious to get started. >> it's game day for us. our folks are trained, highly skilled and motivated. they're ready to go. we love to help the other utilities. it's just the right thing to do. >> reporter: entergy is facing criticism from local lawmakers and the governor for delays in the repairs in restoring the power. here is what governor edwards had to say. >> i'm not satisfied with 30 days the enterg people isn't satisfied with 30 d

paul: the major utility that has been impacted is entergy in louisiana, which is a great customer ofenge is major transmission lines particularly in new orleans, have been knocked down during the storm. there are eight major transmission lines and it sounds like all of them are down. there are about a million people out of power. a lot of them will probably be restored quickly, but there will be some folks that i think what entergy has said, it will take up to three weeks to get power restored. francine: it gives us a lot to think about, whether it is consumer spending, so how long does it take to have a final assessment for when things will be back up? paul: generally, you will need to have people on the ground and assess the situation. it is a big challenge to access these areas because of flooding and left over issues from the hurricane. probably several days until they have a full assessment. alix: bringing in the state of utilities in the country, which is a huge problem, your relationship and agreement with citi is about hydrogen buildout. where do you see the growth? what are

entergy is doing that.ucture investment, it's a trillion dollars more than any other president has spent, and it's going to fuel investment in clean energy like electric vehicle charging stations, like electric buses around the country so that we can tackle climate, and then if you look at the human infrastructure bill, the budget reconciliation, that's going to invest in more green energy and climate investments so that we can continue to move towards a more, a greener economy, but also a greener planet. >> that would be very very good news. sedrick richmond, thank you very much, really appreciate you being here. god bless new orleans, and thank you, and louisiana as a whole. still ahead, the growing number of hostile audiences at school board meetings over mask mandates, and vaccine requirements, prompting school board members to up and quit. but who's fueling these unhinged meetings. we're back after this. ing thesed meetings we're back after this. anything to drink? just water... hold on, we're coming!

. >> the presidents of entergy said more than 2 thousand miles of transmission lines are out of service across louisiana. the entire city of new orleans was left in the dark. by sunrise louisiana woke up to a state in shambles. the devastation stretched for miles. for many the cleanup won't be easy. >> we've got trees that went through homes. and disrupted our people-- it was real bad. it was just really bad. >> reporter: the biden administration approved an emergency declaration for the state. today the president said more help is on the way. >> and fema's pre-positioned literally millions of meals canisters of water, they are already pre-positioned as well as other resources in the immediate area. and we have deployed more than 200 generators. >> the houma civic center became a safe haven for evacuees joe and his dog ride it out in his truck. >> the wind was ferocious. >> diswroa's home was spared but without running water or power in this area, it may be booked before he can move back if. >> more storms are going to comt eventually. at what point do you decide i can't live here any m

>> reporter: norah, entergy which is the state's largest power provider says it will take them at leastdo a damage assessment on those eight transmission lines and tower that were destroyed by ida. so people here in new orleans could be without power all week. maybe even longer. norah? >> o'donnell: omar villafranca, thank you. well, some communities are cut off from the help that they desperately need. roads in and around new orleans might even be blocked for days, cbs' jonathan vigliotti is near lake pontchartrain. >> reporter: norah, lake pontchartrain behind me sent a surge of water into low-lying areas like irish bayou where we are tonight. we thought this was a safe place to ride out the storm, clearly that was not a good idea, so lingering storm surge continues to cut off critical access points throughout the state. hampering efforts by first responders to use those roads to gain access to the hardest hit communities to assess the damage and rescue those trapped by the water. in some places, it could take several days for the water to recede. norah? >> o'donnell: jonathan vigliot

but we've got to get in the next couple days a game plan for entergy. women out there in this heat trying to get the power back on. nobody likes it when the power is out. as soon as they get a full assessment, hopefully we can start getting portions of the state that have the major damage the power back on and get power back. with so many special needs children and seniors, this heat will take a toll if we can't get them back in some air-conditioning. >> i understand, lieutenant governor, that some hospitals in the region have actually been forced to evacuate patients due to the loss of power and water. how has the coronavirus pandemic further complicating your response to this story? >> well, we're going to need some help with the federal government. we had the head of fema with us today. we've got to get some ass assistance, some kind of temporary medical facility. you know, the nurses and doctors have been pushed over a year with covid. now this on top of it, to have them hunker down, take care of those patients through the hurricane and now dealing

if i take you over here, you have a couple entergy workers. there is no electricity they are dealing with but because this building has come down, what they are doing is they are disconnecting the electricity to this building so that as the cleanup continues or if any power comes through, nobody gets shocked. that said, they are saying that for most customers it's going to be seven to ten days before they get power. this is what entergy says it will look like to restore power in new orleans. first of all, they're going to work to get essential power to essential services, hospitals, nursing homes, fire, police, and water systems. obviously that's a big deal, both pumps and cleaning water, sewage and things like that. then they're going to repair the major lines that go from the energy production plant to the substations. as you know, about 130,000 volts comes from the energy company goes to a substation which then drops that down to lower voltage which gets you ultimately to 110 volts you have inside a house or 220 volts if you're industrial.

what you described as a catastrophic failure at entergy in their transmission lines. three of which, by the way, were going to the sewage system. so we got all sorts of new problems in new orleans that we didn't have one hour ago. one hour ago, we were thinking we have largely dodged this bullet here in new orleans. the winds were high. we had gusts, as i was talking to mehdi hasan and bill karins and alicia a little while ago, that looked like they were 70 or 75 miles per hour where i am. what we have seen in terms of damage in new orleans is not trees being uprooted because there's been so much rain and the ground is saturated. trees snapping in half, including one just on the other side of the building that i'm at. so there's a lot of damage around new orleans from trees. they were taking down power lines. that was causing a problem. but now, the city is dark. there's literally nothing to be seen that is lit in the city except buildings that might have generators or people with generators. one important thing to remember, a year ago, about this week, was hurricane

all of new orleans is without power according to the company entergy. 8 main power lines were damagedy the storm. they call it a catastrophic failure of the transmission grid. the definition they have given is the damage caused a load imbalance. and that caused a catastrophic failure of the entire power grid for new orleans. what i can tell you from being out here. it was quite an abundance of rain. more than i have seen in other hurricanes covering these things in the past. the wind was stiff, jaw wards of 80 miles per hour. but what was remarkable is sheets and sheets of rain that came through. particularly significant for new orleans, most of new orleans is like a bowl. it's below sea level. they are reliant on the pump system to act like a bilge pump in a boat and get water back out into the city. but when you get that's water it overloads the pump. they can't keep up with demand. they have individual turbines that can keep the pump work as far as the storm runoff. but you have the problem where you have sewage pumps that have to do their jobs. so as the days go on that will compl

so until we hear otherwise from entergy, and we are reaching out to them to find out what specific repairs have to take place for them to get energy back, and there are most people here without power 7 to 10 day, and that is not going into effect, geoff, because the power is cleaning for the water, so right now, people are talking about boiling water even here in new orleans. we have not heard that we have a problem with the water and sewage system, because energy said they could route the power to the water and sewage system, but generator systems work for so long and they work off of fuel and tend not to be a long-term situation. so businesses around here with the generators may be running out of fuel, and without the power, you can't pump the fuel. so this a new turn this morning as we learn that the energy, the power may not be restored to the area for 7 to 10 days at the least, and three weeks on the outside which has people scrambling and concerned about what is going on. the point is, geoff, if you stayed here and your house did not flood, and you have food, now you learn it is 7 to

the power went out after 6:00 last night enter entergy called it a catastrophic failure of the transition system reporting 800,000 outages. city of new orleans is experiencing technical difficulties with the 911 emergency system they are urging people to go to the nearest fire station or flag down a first responder president biden issued a declaration of disaster for louisiana yesterday. the first death reported yesterday. that was the sheriff's office who says someone was killed by a fallen tree. as the storm moved onshore, it moved to houma a roof becoming a projectile and in kenner, we were told no staff from the hospital was injured. we are waiting for the sun to come up to assess the damage seema. >> valerie, what do we know about the storm reduction system that louisiana invested in after katrina in 2005? is it working? >> reporter: it seems to be working in new orleans they upgraded everything after katrina katrina. the mayor was confident. the storm surge was below the levee system in the southern portion of the state where the storm first came onshore, there was a failure of the

we've seen two striking caravans about 45 minutes ago we saw a line of entergy trucks. that's the local power authority here they moved through we also saw members of the cajun navy with those float boats with the big propellers on the back going through about to try to fan out and do a water rescue for people you can hear work going on right now. like i said, there is no power here there's emergency generators going on but, you know, and there is some damage but for the most part, i think the biggest concern as you guys said, it's about the power this entire city is out. what is that, like a million people and with no discernible time line from what we've heard, there's a lot of desperation already, guys. >> thanks, al. >> al roker there. we'll talk to a member of that cajun navy coming up >> and we'll speak to the governor and he may be able to answer some questions. tom is in the french quarter there. what are you starting to see as the sun is up? >> reporter: good morning. we're seeing a lot of damage you see pocket es of destruction like this behind me. this is par

louisiana's main utility company entergy says it could be weeks before it restores electricity to nearly a million people in the storm's path, including all of new orleans, as temperatures rise to near 40 degrees fahrenheit. we'll have more on hurricane ida later in the broadcast. the u.s. covid-19 outlook continues to worsen ith hospitalizations rising and deaths averaging more than 1300 per day. on monday, the biden administration announced a civil rights probe into five states that have banned local officials from mandating masks. the education department's office for civil rights argues those states are endangering students with disabilities who are at greater risk of covid-19 by denying them equal access to safe in-person instruction. in florida, republican governor ron desantis has made good on his threat to punish local school boards that mandate masks in schools. on monday, florida's education commissioner said the state was withholding funds equal to the monthly salaries of school board officials in alachua and broward county. that's despite a court ruling friday by a judge who

we have another problem and i'm here at the entergy new orleans power station. it stopped.e's no electricity transmission going out. while there's downed trees and power lines and bucket truck res maring them, that will not fix the problem. there's the massive transmission lines damaged. for most consumers it will be seven to ten days before they get their power back. people in hard hit areas, some of them are outside of it, it may be three weeks or more before they get their power back. it will be some power restored the the next few days but it will go to police, hospitals, to infrastructure. right now there's nothing. if you don't have a generator in new orleans and surrounding areas, you don't have enough electricity. it's in the low 80 degree temperature right now. feels closer to 100 because of humidity. that is something people could have managed for three or four days. it becomes difficult when you're thinking about 7 to 10 days or more before they get that done. we know it's not all there. >> the people who stayed, we aren't getting any requests for shelter within

the power company, entergy, says all eight of the transmission lines that come into the city of new orleans were knocked out by the storm. there is distribution lines within the city. the big towers, the big transmission lines that bring high-voltage current into the city, there's eight of those coming into new orleans, all eight knocked out. over a million homes and businesses are without power in louisiana, including the whole city of new orleans. entergy says it will take days just to determine the extent of the damage and far longer to restore electricity. that means most people will be without, for example, air-conditioning as the heat index tops 100 degrees in coming days. officials are warning about the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning of people using portable generators inside a home or garage. that's what caused most of the deaths in louisiana from hurricane laurel last year, so they're trying to get the word out about portable generators. the other thing we're keeping an eye on in louisiana are the hospitals. as you know from recent reporting, including here on this show, louis

the entergy people aren't satisfied with 30 days and nobody needing power is satisfied with that.st had the strongest hurricane at least tied for the strongest that the state has ever experienced and infrastructure has been damaged. the damage assessment continues. that started yesterday and it actually continues and once they know exactly how heavily damaged the infrastructure is they'll be able to respond and put together a plan, but what i can tell you is they have linemen, vegetation crews and others in the state right now. i did a two-hour phone call with entergy last evening to make sure they knew that this was a very high order of priority. look, we all want air-conditioning because that's how we run our lights and air conditioners. i'm worried about it because that's how we run our hospitals, too and our hospitals are full and we have so many other things that are critically important and we know that even if you have a generator, typically after so many days they start to fail, right? and so we're doing everything we can to work with them to get them to restore electricit

the entergy power has has shown pacifics about how many are out. 1.8 million. our own calculations show that's an area where roughly 2.5 million people life. power, a serious concern and listen to this there are eight major transmission lines that supply power to the city of new orleans. they began failing yesterday afternoon, and now all of them are out. which means, according to the local power authority, the city of new orleans will be without power for at least days and one commissioner there is suggesting it could be much longer than that, depending on how badly those power lines are damaged. one major transmission line collapsed into the mississippi river. has disrupted river traffic along the mississippi. as well as, obviously, halting land traffic in that area. we know the port of new orleans, though, was reopened, and the energy companies that have shut down around port fourchon are now still assessing the damage to their different areas of refinery and otherwise and they expect to have some assessment later in the day of exactly when all of that energ

the power is out in all of new orleans due to catastrophic transmission damage to facilities from entergystrict has lost three power lines from entergy to run some of its drainage pumps. we'll keep an eye on that as well. plaquemines parish, we're hearing the levees on the east bank have overtopped. this area is currently under a mandatory evacuation. but any remaining residents are urged to seek higher ground. again, they have overtopped. we do not have word they have been damaged or breached. as you know, this afternoon, ida made landfall as a category 4 hurricane near pourt fourchon. it was a strong category 4 with sustained winds of 150 miles per hour. tonight, ida remains extremely dangerous as it makes its way through the bayou state. we're seeing the kind of

entergy said #90% of their customers will not have to wait that long.not giving time tables for when the power will be restored. they can't right now. every day here in new orleans and in the area that goes by without power is another day of high tension here. we got police vehicles now patrolling the streets in the french quarter just making their presence known. the police are deploying antilooting teams in this area as we speak to prevent destruction of property as we saw during hurricane katrina. >> are you near a bar on bourbon street? >> we're near several bars on bourbon street. i don't think any of them are open, don. we kind of went up and down the street. we don't see anything open. again, it is so unusual, so eerie here. not only is it pitch black environment here but nothing, nothing is open. then we start to wonder, where are people going to go to get food, the grocery stores have not been open. that is going to be a real story in the coming days. >> the only reason i ask is i remember during katrina and after the only bar that was open was

so that is a growing concern that was catastrophic transmission failure is what the entergy said it was when the storm came and caused some damage you see the destruction behind me here. we have got a roof that was ripped off, like the lid of a tin can in the french quarter and secenes like this all over the city the full extent of the damage and loss of life still very much to be determined there is also shredded trees, downed power lines and some are still stuck in their attics, awaiting help from first responders who are only able to come out today for their search and rescue efforts live in new orleans, liz mclaughlin back to you. >> thank you very much an update on the power transmission lines, eight of them, have collapsed in southwest louisiana. southeast louisiana. including one that fell into the mississippi river along with major power lines. that's halted river traffic along the mississippi river and caused widespread outages. the entire grid system for ten louisiana parishes has collapsed according to local officials and could take up to six weeks to restore power in those a

so we never deal with power lines, entergy is our electrical suppliers.hey have to come in and check that, make sure that is de energized before we can remove the trees that may be laying on top of them. this is a lengthy process. although we work in emergency situations with heavy equipment and a lot of resources, we have to also operate in a safe manner. so it takes time to have those crews ahead of us, to make sure it's safe to -- arthel: i think we lost mr. budrou's audio there. it seems like they are prepared for the worst there and again we're praying for the best. eric. eric: that we are. it's less than 48 hours until u.s. forces are set to leave afghanistan. you saw it on fox news a few moments ago, the president didn't want to take a question about afghanistan when he was briefing reporters at fema about the hurricane. but the terror threat we are told continues. dan hoffman is here on today's early morning air strike and the threat from the taliban and isis-k. riders, the lone wolves of the great highway. all they need is a bike and a full tank

according to the utility entergy, it is not coming back on tonight.hat deliver power there are out of service. while they work to assess the damage caused by the storm, backup power is being provided as best as possible to the new orleans sewage and water board so they can pump water and sewage out. by the way, the city is asking the people of new orleans to please conserve water, because the less water you use, the less waste water you create. did i mention the sewage pumps aren't working? back with us is lieutenant general russel honore. general, i wonder if i could just begin with the concerns in the overnight hours with the storm. the louisiana department of health confirmed the first storm related death that's been reported. a 60-year-old male in ascension, parish, who had a tree fall in his home. the governor tweeted, condolences to the family and said they will begin damage assessments and search and rescue as soon as it is safe in the morning. it sounds like this hurricane is going to give search and rescue crews more than enough to work throu

the electric company there is called entergy it reports the storm knocked ou hundreds of substations and more than 2,000 miles of transmission lines. amajor part of the problem, a massive electrical transmission tower collapsed. emergency official there says the cables were strewn across the mississippi river. they fell into the water that asked river traffic on how people are handling the storm in new orleans, cnbc's frank holland is there frank? >> reporter: shep, for a second night, the city of new orleans is without power and at the same time, residents are assessing the damage left behind from this category 4 storm, like this building that was just pretty much destroyed this car crushed under bricks with downed power lines and downed trees as you said, more than 1 million people in louisiana without power tonight. the utilities saying there's no clear time to restore service, which has residents worried about their health and safety. panic and desperation beginning to build here in the city as people go without power and air conditioning, with temperatures near 90 degrees and hi

so today was the first day of assessments done by the utility companies, entergy in particular for theow and wednesday and it will give us a better sense of when electricity will start to come back online. and so, we hope it's sooner, rather than the speculation of weeks and weeks that we heard earlier. i think what's important here, don, and i want to emphasize this. is information is power but it has to be accurate information so that people can make the best decisions for them and their families. and right now, we can't give a certain estimate or a definite estimate on when people will have power restored until entergy and other utility companies finish their assessments. but i will say this. there are 25,000 line workers that are in new orleans ready to start fixing electrical poles and everything else to give people their utilities back as soon as the assessment is done. so it's all hands on deck but we're not going to make irresponsible promises. we want to make sure we get facts to people. but department of energy, department of defense, homeland security. everybody, working wit

every day to deliver as much assistance as we possibly can, and i can tell you we are going to push entergy and other electric companies to restore power as soon as they can, and they are busy doing that. again, more than 25,000 linemen on the job as we speak. those linemen come from 22 different states. i can't tell you when cell service will be restored. i can tell you at&t made tremendous progress earlier this afternoon. hopefully your cell phone coverage is back or will soon be back. i know that cell phones have become the preferred method of making phone calls for many people. there are a lot of individuals who do not even have land lines, and this made communication difficult and frustrating today. not just difficult and frustrating, but if you needed help, it might have been difficult for you to call for help. but we do believe this situation is going to improve very quickly if your phone service has not yet restored. i know a lot of people out there are tired. and sometimes this can be too much to bear. it is a lot to deal with. i know the people of our state are stronger than the s

with so many people out of power and seniors in this hot weather, you know, entergy and cleco and theeople working on this, 25,000 linemen and contractors are out there working day and night. some of the areas will come back on in days some areas will take weeks you know, you're hearing two or three weeks to get 90% back on i don't have an update on that but in the short-term, people are going to have to have places to go until their power gets back on. as you mentioned, the water. we've got to get the water pressure the beautiful oak trees in louisiana are great, but when they fall, they rip up those water lines. they're already working on replacing those as we speak. >> billy, i've known you for a long time. i know you rode through katrina. how are you feeling and how does this one compare >> you know, my heart sinks because i know what we went through to rebuild after katrina. i rode out katrina and rescued people and brought them to my home and to know we've got a long road ahead of us, the good news is louisiana helps our neighbors out. people from all over the country are alread

entergy is calling this a catastrophic failure of their transmission system.counting for 800,000 of those outages meanwhile the city of new orleans is also contending with a problem with their 911 emergency response system. they are having some technical difficulties with that this morning. yesterday afternoon president biden issued a disaster declaration from fema headquarters last night the first storm-related death was reported in ascention parish. the sheriff's department there telling us that a person was killed by a falling tree the scale of the damage remains to be fully realized today we're still in the dark waiting for daylight images yesterday show some of the hardest-hit areas where roofs were being ripped off and scattered by the strong winds. cameras in st. bernard parish show the difference in flooding over the course of an hour initially the ground was relatively dry just an hour later, those floodwaters moved in, rushed in and really began to cause those problems again, we're waiting for daylight today to get a full assessment of the damage ove

will: i spoke with entergy and they said they have to assess the damage and that will take for days beforet restoring our. it will be close to the end of this week before we can get a sense of when people will have electricity, and the damage was extensive. they lost 2000 miles of transmission lines, all eight of the major transmission cables that feed new orleans with electricity are down. some of those had survived hurricane katrina and got taken out by ida. a lot of work to be done. matt: what is this damaged like compared to katrina? will: the people in new orleans are telling us katrina was a huge water event and it was a lot of flood events. this time we were lucky and this was a big wind event and this is why we have seen miles of power lines down, homes and billboards and cars blown all over the place, but not as bad as katrina. i don't think we will suffer as much. matt: bloomberg power and renewable energy reporter will wade there talking to us about the damage from ida. from berlin, i'm matt lerner. this is bloomberg. ♪ -- i'm matt miller. this is bloomberg. ♪ mark: new orleans

. >> rod, entergy opened a new natural gas power plant in new orleans last year and pledged it would help keep the lights on in times of heat waves or even potentially big storms now you have some government officials down there raising questions about why that plant didn't keep electricity going, at least to 1some parts to the city through the storm or even now. what's your response >> for those who understand how the system works they know the plant did exactly what it was designed to do the plant shut down not because the plant wasn't available it was because the plant needs transmission in order to bring the power in so -- so the way the system works, generation is just one part of the power delivery system that generation has to be transmitted through high voltage transmission lines from the power plant to get into the area so there was nothing wrong at all with the new orleans power station. it is operating and was operating as designed, but we needed transmission. that's the challenge of the transmission system. we need a transin addition to get the power there. we have availa

electric power company entergy warned that those in the hardest hit areas could be without power forks. joining us from dubai is our energy editor. we are 24 hours on from ida hitting the louisiana coast. what is the assessment so far of the damage? >> the damage has been extensive, as expected, given just how powerful this storm was the battered into the battered into louisiana and parts of mississippi. however, so far, it seems like the damage was not nearly as bad as hurricane katrina back in 2005. new orleans' flood defenses seems to hold up pretty well. while ida's winds were stronger than katrina, it looks like the city itself has escaped sort of dire, dire damage that it suffered during katrina. the big problem seems to be with the power grid in and around new orleans. that has suffered a lot of damage and we have got about one million homes without power at the moment, 2 million homes, and they could be without power perhaps for weeks. tom: how have the energy markets reacted? >> on the whole, they have reacted pretty calmly. crude prices rose slightly yesterday, but not by m

it's a matter of conscious but one thing that is clear, this thing was advertised to be paid for entergy said a very complex bill over 2700 pages. the king james bible is 1300 pages. when they fell short, over a quote quarter of a trillion dollars this was announced a couple of hours between chuck schumer tried to introduce this classic in the american people needs to understand what we're looking at right my colleagues need a closer look at what we'r looking at particularly with th budget shortfall, we're going t put that much more debt, that much more inflation on our economy and on our children and grandchildren what they wanted to do required every single senator to say yes. there is 100 of you, the greatest country on earth, just a few hundred very few people have every held those positions and you said no, one person saying no, and it had to be you and i guess people were probabl upset at this point, but how do you feel about your party because this is another frustration that americans feel when this is exactly the kind o thing we didn't want. bills being passed without knowing wh

it seems the biggest affect is on the energy sector entergy is warning it is not just days, but weeksget the power back. >> there are some 20,000 power company workers that have made their way to louisiana from all over the country it is going to take weeks. it will take weeks to get all of the power on and people will have to grin and bare it this is a treacherous disaster so much of the area is impacted that it will take a long time. right now, there are contractors and federal employees and the red cross are in louisiana by scores the most important thing right now is finding survivors and finding victims in the rubble and in some of the inundated areas. after that, the most important thing is -- first of all is life safety the most important thing is debris removal there are private companies bringing in hundreds of trucks to remove all of the debris which can have pathogens in them and dangerous items. it's so important to remove the debris the federal contractors will be looking at all of the public damage and damage to sewer systems. it is very important to get the water system

trace: continuing coverage of hurricane ida now a category 3, we're hearing entergy, largest pow providerout power totaly, a huge plow to the people who live there. they could be out of power for weeks. to our meteorologist adam klotz in fox weather center. reporter: well, the thing this continues to change it is such a powerful windstorm we're focusing more and more on the rain. grand isle it was close to 1 50s miles per hour, we had high wind totals enough to do wide spread damage. as it lifts closer inland and further inland, new orleans with 83 mile hour gusts, they are peak gusts, recent gusts in 40 to 50 miles per hour. still enough to do damage. as we continue overnight it appears we're more and more of a rain maker. still very heavy bands of rain in portions of eastern louisiana, stretching far east toward florida panhandle, there is a wide area talk about potential for flooding, eastern louisiana, most of mississippi, alabama, and up to tennessee. when we talk about flooding that will lead to monday, tuesday and wednesday. something we'll watch. trace: adam klotz thank you so muc

company to watch the most, maybe the most important for millions of families, louisiana right now, is entergyor new orleans we know according to the governor of louisiana about 1.7 million people have no power and here is why that matters no state relies more on electric power, natural gas, propane, et cetera, than louisiana the electricity grid and electric power means more to them than any other state particularly things like water pumps and sewers to get rid of the water that can stagg nad it all depends, tyler on how long not that it's off line but just how long it stays offline. >> why is it -- that's a fascinating fact that louisiana is more dependent on electric power more than any other state. is it because -- >> reporter: per capita. >> is it because the state has to power the water pumps and so forth? why do they consume more >> reporter: partly due to that, due to an older grid and the topography of the state. it's easy to string a power line across a ten-mile bayou. and so you can string those power lines across it. the topography of the state, like for example, your house, tyler,

. >> now the power entergy said the eight main transmission lines that suffered catastrophic damage duringhe said that got 4500 personnel on the ground. still however, no estimate for when the lights will turn back on. kennedy: unreal. what are you doing for lights? here you are mike. >> i have glow sticks in my room and you walk around your phone. kennedy: that you do that anywhere you go it does not have to be at hurricane in new orleans to use glow success will be lovely. mike tobin keeping it real stay safe my friend. and john bel edwards city have a baby with his videographer? tropical storm is next what makes new salonpas arthritis gel so good for arthritis pain? salonpas contains the most prescribed topical pain relief ingredient. it's clinically proven, reduces inflammation and comes in original prescription strength. salonpas. it's good medicine. growing up in a little red house, on the edge of a forest in norway, there were three things my family encouraged: kindness, honesty and hard work. over time, i've come to add a fourth: be curious. be curious about the world around us, an

million people still without power and that power loss could last for weeks or more and according to entergy, the power tampa this was one of the strongest wind storms in the history of america and power lines tumbled everywhere in the meantime, other parts of the state are underwater and the huge search and rescue effort entering day two the louisiana national guard has already rescued a number of people and first responders are still struggling to get to some coastal areas that were hit hardest. one of those is grand isle, completely still cut off let's get more, liz mcflock lynn of nbc news. liz. >> so much flooding, especially in those coastal communities, brian, buthere, wind caused th bulk of the damage it kenner, louisiana and you can see behind me a tree split in half and actually went through this home behind me, power lines are down and you might hear chainsaws in the periphery. homeowners coming to survey what's left and what's lost. brian. >> yeah, it is truly remarkable scenes because on one hand you have the flooding, you actually have a levee over top near where you are and on

now, what we've been looking at entergy, what they're supplying. several refineries have power right now. it's not like the whole region is down. several refiners still do not have power we would expect one to two weeks for facilities to come back, assuming that energy works at getting power back then the refiners have to go in and assess if there's any damage and then the restart process typically takes a couple of days if this is over in one or two weeks and supplies are adequate for one or two weeks, we'll probably be okay >> yeah. and i think sort of the second path of that would be if it goes on for longer, then we'll see. >> exactly we just don't know what will happen if there's another storm. people have been comparing this to katrina katrina was unique it had -- it was the largest storm of its time. the u.s. economy was roaring, gasoline demand was high, refineries were running full out, and it really caused a lot of problems. and it was followed immediately by another hurricane three weeks later, rita. so, that one-two punch really spiked

. >> entergy power company says it will take days to figure out the extent of the damage. st.e waiting at least a month before their power is restored. can you imagine, you know, with those temperatures you just described? louisiana's governor is urging residents to stay away until directed otherwise. >> many of the life supporting infrastructure elements are not present. they're not operating right now. so if you have already evacuated, do not return here or elsewhere in southeast louisiana until the office of emergency preparedness tells you it is ready to receive you. the schools are not open. the businesses are not open. the hospitals are slammed. there is not water in your home and there's not going to be electricity. >> cnn's brian todd is at a food distribution site in new orleans. brian, what are people there telling you? >> reporter: well, alisyn, victor, we will give you a sense of how desperate people are for food and water. as you mentioned the conditions, the heat is very oppressive. it is going to get worse in the next few days, still no power, no end in sight to

in fact, last night, and we've seen a number of the local utilities, the entergy folks, are staying at our hotel. we feel pretty good about that. that probably means we're going to have power. you always want to stay where the linemen are. that and close to a waffle house. we haven't found a waffle house yet, but we have found the winds and the linemen. >> spoken like a true weather man. give me a sense how many windows are boarded up. yes, we worry about the flooding but you talk about the tropical storm force winds right now. how much do you see windows boarded up, doorways and the like? >> reporter: you know, on canal street, which is just down the block, there are a lot of windows boarded up. and in and around these streets on dauphin we've seen a number of places boarded up. i can see one down the street here. looks like a small hotel, a boutique hotel. that's all boarded up. folks are taking precautions. not as much as i would have thought. but, look, with 155-mile-per-hour winds potentially, maybe not here but given that the winds extend out -- tropical force winds extend out 50

entergy says it will take days just to determine the extent of the damage and far longer to restore electricity. that means most people will be without, for example, air-conditioning as the heat index tops 100 degrees in coming days. officials are warning about the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning of people using portable generators inside a home or garage. that's what caused most of the deaths from hurricane laurel last year, so they're trying to get the word out about portable generators. the other thing we're keeping an eye on in louisiana are the hospitals. as you know from recent reporting, including here on this show, louisiana's hospitals are already full to bursting with very sick covid patients. you might remember a video we played on the show a few weeks ago, a navy medical team. an active duty navy medical team arrived at one hospital in louisiana to help the doctors there. it was nice to see the standing ovation they got from the staff, the staff that was so overwhelmed with covid patients. well, that was oxnard general hospital about 20 miles west of new orleans. that same hospi

there's been catastrophic damage, that's the language that entergy is using to the power grid.tsoever. we can say that, it is hard to understand, imagine living in a place where your cell phone is not working, no power in the house, sewage pumps may not be working, you have these questions, maybe people are trying to reach out to you, you can't connect with them. that's what people are dealing with. on top of that, people need to be rescued in river towns outside of new orleans where levees didn't fail but became over topped because there was so much water from the river along with storm surge. a lot going on now. the governor sent in 1600 personnel to help with rescues. we don't know how widespread or people need rescuing, but they're not taking chances. there have been videos, you see them on social media, people tracked in attics as water was rising. we do not want to see what happened during katrina again 16 years ago where people lived on the roofs, asking for people in helicopters to rescue them. we're not at that point yet, haven't seen that yet. we're just learning what

our company is entergy, and they are assessing the damage.am hoping they will notify us soon and give us an estimated timeframe. we are dealing with a water situation here. i issued a boil water advisory pause we lost a tremendous amount of pressure due to broken pipes, and our suer system is fragile, too, and we are going to face a hygiene problem with that, because the system is dependent upon energy. some of the people have medical conditions, and they are leaving and i said you are making the right decision, and we can help you but it has to be outside of the community, and i can care for people but not when i don't have electricity or proper clean water, and so some of these people going to a shelter, they can have the medical care and food and water and air-conditioner all in one place, and their basic needs of survival will be met and that's going to be difficult for me to provide here. that's the message, if you cannot take care of yourself, we will have buses to get you to a safe place where can you have your basic needs -- >> get to

also keep an eye on maybe the most important company of all right now to millions of people, that is entergy, the power provider for new orleans and much of the area as we noted, there is no power in much of the area. no state relies more on electric power than louisiana, particularly to power the water pumps. it remains even as the storm is passing through a scary situation and reports power could be off for some for weeks. that is the key. not how much of the energy grid is off line -- by the way, it happened a lot in the last couple of years. they've gotten used to it and figured it out -- but how long it stays off line, perhaps the most important thing for the people, for the industry and for prices oh, by the way, there's also an opec meeting on wednesday. from raymond james joining us now, pablo, it is good to have you back on. it is looks like the industry, thankfully the people, hopefully, escaped the worst of it do you expect most of the refineries to be back on line in the next day or two, assuming they get power back? >> i doubt it is going to be that quick hopefully a matter of w

. >> the entergy company says suffered catastrophic dang during the storm.n one that spanned the mississippi and withstood katrina. 2 million people are without power. 4500 workers are on the ground. no estimate for when the lights will be back on. bret? >> bret: that's a big deal, mike. the power obviously and having covered hurricane katrina 16 years ago it's a much different deal with the levees right now so the big issue town there right now is power? >> the big issue is power. one of the things to look for, the pumps that drain the city of new orleans, those function storm pumps those function but the sewage pumps are dependent on the power grid. you can start to have a health emergency here if they don't get those things online and pumping soon. >> bret: we will follow that closely microphone bin in new orleans, thanks. now from wet to fire. and wind. the entire city of south lake tahoe is under evacuation orders tonight as a massive wildfire whips closer being fueled by high winds and dry conditions. the new orders come a day after communities several