http://syn2.thecanadianpress.com:8080/mrss/feed/fcf7391a2f354311807f0501c16bde6a MSN - AP World Copyright © 2010-2018 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved. http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Sat, 05 Jul 2025 19:11:51 +0000 http://syn2.thecanadianpress.com:8080/mrss/feed/fcf7391a2f354311807f0501c16bde6a/7a2bb6f22ed64484955d3352b75a181d A "tent city" is housing more than 1,000 linemen from across the country working to restore electricity after Hurricane Ida. (Sept. 24) 7a2bb6f22ed64484955d3352b75a181d Fri, 24 Sep 2021 14:54:02 +0000 SHOTLIST:RESTRICTION SUMMARY:ASSOCIATED PRESSAmelia, Louisiana – 16 September 20211. Wide pan of "tent city" where lineworkers sleep and store trucks and equipment2. Various of powerline trucks and workers++PARTIALLY COVERED++3. SOUNDBITE (English) Brett Ledet, South Louisiana Electric Cooperative Association:"This is what we call tent city. This is where we house all of our linemen that are – that come in from all over to help us. This is where we park the vehicles, park the equipment, house the guys, feed them, fuel their trucks, store materials. I mean, this is really the center of everything we're doing right now."4. Tent filled with cots for sleeping5. Workers gassing up utility trucks6. Trucks rolling out to sites of downed powerlines and polesANNOTATION: More than 1,000 lineworkers from across the U.S. are living in "tent city" while restoring power in south Louisiana after Hurricane Ida.ASSOCIATED PRESSDulac, Louisiana – 17 September 20217. Homes damaged and flooded since Hurricane Ida on August 29ANNOTATION: Ida's Category 4 winds knocked out power to more than a million customers. Thousands are still in the dark.++PARTIALLY COVERED++8. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthew Stacey, Arkansas-based lineman:"The further south you come, the worse it gets. We were just awestruck. You know, just the amount of devastation, the people's homes that are lost. I can't – we feel for them."ASSOCIATED PRESSHouma, Louisiana – 17 September 20219. Airboat maneuvering through marsh10. Specialized "marsh buggy" maneuvers through marshANNOTATION: Louisiana's terrain presents challenges in even getting to some of the downed lines and poles. The job requires airboats and specialized equipment.++PARTIALLY COVERED++11. SOUNDBITE (English) Jon Hise, Oklahoma-based lineman:"We've been in this swamp for a little over a week, I guess, picking up these poles. Some of them been broke. It's just been a fight in this marsh, trying to get this equipment up and down through here."12. Linemen working to set new lines and poles++COVERED++13. SOUNDBITE (English) Jon Hise, Oklahoma-based lineman:"You're already working hard before you even get out here to the equipment to go to work."ASSOCIATED PRESSDulac, Louisiana – 17 September 202114. Utility trucks and workers repairing lines and poles15. Homes damaged and flooded since Hurricane Ida on August 29ASSOCIATED PRESSHouma, Louisiana – 17 September 2021++PARTIALLY COVERED++16. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthew Peters, South Louisiana Electric Cooperative Association:"It's a good feeling when you have an army that size coming to your aide. It shows you that you're not alone."ASSOCIATED PRESSDulac, Louisiana – 17 September 202117. Homes damaged and flooded since Hurricane Ida on August 29ASSOCIATED PRESSHouma, Louisiana – 17 September 2021++PARTIALLY COVERED++18. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthew Peters, South Louisiana Electric Cooperative Association:"My personal home fared extremely well. Some of my guys – not so lucky. It's just hard. But, they're all here. They're working."ASSOCIATED PRESSAmelia, Louisiana – 16 September 202119. Machine loading utility poles onto trucks++PARTIALLY COVERED++20. SOUNDBITE (English) Robbie Davis, Georgia-based lineman:"We're glad to be out here to help. You know, just – that's the, I know that's the same way that they would do if something hit back home with us. We'll stay as long as we need to."21. Workers moving transformers and other equipment22. Workers walking through rows of trucksSTORYLINE:When Hurricane Ida was brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, the grass was chest high and the warehouse empty at this lot in southeastern Louisiana. Within days electric officials transformed it into a bustling "tent city" with massive, air-conditioned tents for sleeping and eating, a gravel parking lot for bucket trucks and a station to resupply linemen restoring power to the region.In the wake of hurricanes one of the most common and comforting sites is the thousands of linemen that flow into a battered region when the winds die down to restore power and a sense of normalcy. All those linemen need to sleep somewhere. They need to eat. Their trucks need fuel.Matthew Peters is the operations manager for South Louisiana Electric Cooperative Association, which built the tent city to house a peak of about 1,100 linemen helping restore power to the cooperative's customers.When Ida came ashore on August 29 it knocked out power to about 1.1 million customers in the state.The vast majority have seen their power restored, but in a sign of how extensive the storm was, thousands are still in the dark.SLECA provides electricity to about 21,000 customers including many in the hard-hit bayou regions. It will likely still be weeks until coverage is completely restored. Over a few short days after Ida, SLECA and a consulting firm they hired transformed what used to be a hub for oil field manufacturer into a temporary home for workers from across the country.In one massive white tent hundreds of cots are spread out where workers sleep. Another tent houses a cafeteria that serves hot breakfast starting around 5 a.m., dinner and boxed lunches that linemen eat out in the field.Tons of gravel was brought in and packed down on top of a grassy field so bucket trucks and other equipment _ many flying American flags _ can park.At sunset, after linemen park their trucks and head in to eat, shower and sleep, gasoline trucks drive up and down the rows, fueling the trucks so no time is lost in the morning.Across the street is another warehouse where supplies such as transformers and wires are available. Outside long wooden replacement poles wait to be loaded onto trucks.Many of the linemen coming in have covered other disasters. It's good money but more than that they say it's the feeling of restoring normalcy to someone who's had everything stripped away from them. And many point out that the next disaster could easily be in their own backyard.The Louisiana terrain presents special challenges, like just getting out to some of the areas where power poles and lines need to be fixed. In some areas lines thread through thick swamps that can only be accessed by air boat or specialized equipment called a marsh buggy that looks like a cross between a tank and a pontoon boat.Linemen don waders to climb into chest-high muddy waters also home to alligators and water moccasins.As SLECA officials and lineman are working to restore power to their slice of southeastern Louisiana, they have also been struggling themselves with hurricane damage. The company is operating out of trailers in their Houma headquarters after Ida peeled off the roof, and there's the toll of seeing large swathes of their coverage area devastated.For many getting power is just the first step in a long rebuilding process.===========================================================Clients are reminded: (i) to check the terms of their licence agreements for use of content outside news programming and that further advice and assistance can be obtained from the AP Archive on: Tel +44 (0) 20 7482 7482 Email: info@aparchive.com(ii) they should check with the applicable collecting society in their Territory regarding the clearance of any sound recording or performance included within the AP Television News service (iii) they have editorial responsibility for the use of all and any content included within the AP Television News service and for libel, privacy, compliance and third party rights applicable to their Territory. A "tent city" is housing more than 1,000 linemen from across the country working to restore electricity after Hurricane Ida. (Sept. 24) Tent city rises in effort to restore power after Ida