PINEVILLE, La. - Cleco Corporation has a workforce of more than 2,400 company and contract workers from across the southeast United States ready to restore power throughout its service territory when weather permits.

As of 8 p.m., Cleco is reporting about 3,000 customers in St. Tammany and Washington parishes without power. As the storm has now made landfall and weather conditions in the Northshore of New Orleans have worsened, Cleco has called in workers from the field due to unsafe conditions.

"We have been restoring power all afternoon as Isaac's winds have caused outages; however, weather conditions have now reached a dangerous level and we must pull our workers in for safety," said James Lass, Cleco's storm manager. "This means that if a customer's power is currently out, it likely will remain out throughout the night. We will have our workers ready to restore power after winds have calmed, and it is safe for them to work."

At tropical storm level wind speeds, it becomes unsafe for workers to be in buckets and climb poles. Cleco is committed to restoring power as quickly and safely as possible but the company must ensure safety for everyone involved and not risk further damage to the system.

Cleco reminds customers that downed power lines can be energized and dangerous. Stay away from low or sagging lines and lines that are lying on the ground. Call Cleco at 1-800-622-6537 to report a dangerous situation with power lines.

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