PINEVILLE, La. – 5 p.m. update – Tonight, Cleco expects to restore power to 99 percent of the over 12,000 customers who experienced outages after severe thunderstorms impacted its service territory.

Cleco has line mechanics and contractors responding to the restoration effort.  Damage includes broken poles and crossarms, as well as downed power lines due to trees and limbs hitting the electric system as strong winds blew through the area. 

As of 5 p.m., Cleco had approximately 1,500 customers without power.  Even though crews have made progress, some customers will remain without power through the night.  Cleco expects to have crews working through the night and tomorrow to return power to customers. 

“Cleco crews have been working around the clock to restore power to customers,” said James Lass, general manager of distribution operations and emergency management.  “Tonight we expect to restore power to 99 percent of customers affected by the storms with the remaining approximately 100 customers restored by noon tomorrow.” 

Outages as of 5 p.m. 

Avoyelles Parish - 55 customers

Beauregard Parish - 115 customers

Grant Parish - 627 customers

LaSalle Parish - 59

Rapides Parish - 557 customers

For the most up-to-the-minute outage information, visit Cleco’s Storm Center

Even with power restored to most customers, electric lines still could be lying on the ground. Cleco reminds everyone to stay away from downed power lines. Even if power has been restored in an area, it is not safe to assume lines are de-energized. Stay away and keep others away.  To report a potentially dangerous situation with electricity, call 911 or Cleco at 1-800-622-6537.a