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Groves residents frustrated as power outages continue after Hurricane Laura

Entergy says 81% of its customers have had power restored as crews continue to work several days after the category 4 storm moved through

Days after Laura made landfall, things remain at a standstill in towns like Groves, since many are without power. 

Residents are growing weary as deadlines continue to be pushed back. 

Maurice McKoy and Charles Hardin are among the 50,000 people without power across Southeast Texas after Hurricane Laura.

"When it's that hot, you just sweating. You really don't sleep. You kind of nod off here and there but you're constantly waking up," McKoy said. 

They say they're not the only ones having a difficult time with the outages. 

"It's been pretty rough on the kids sleeping and waking up when it's hot and going to sleep when cold," Hardin said. 

"Groves is a very small tight-knitted community and I'm not understanding why we don't have power. We're not too big but it is causing some frustration not just with me but with people in the community," McKoy said. 

During the storm, a large voltage transmission system was severely damaged, preventing power from being transferred to substations across Mid County. 

As of Monday morning, Entergy has restored power to 81% of the customers who experienced outages. 

MORE | See Entergy Texas outage map

MORE | See outages for Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative

In Hardin's case, he says they told him he had to remove a tree if he wanted power in his neighborhood. 

"One of the contractor companies said Entergy should have done it. Entergy said I was suppose to do it. So I was sitting there getting 17 different mixed messages from people but it made me mad but I got it done," Hardin said. 

Groves is expected to have power by Tuesday, while parts of Orange County may be restored later this week. 

Here are Entergy's estimates on when power might be restored: 

  • Beaumont, Port Arthur, Port Neches, Nederland, Sabine Pass, and Taylor Landing are all expected to have power by Monday night
  • Groves expected to have power restored on Tuesday 
  • Orange County will likely see lights again on September 4  

If you are a customer of Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative, the company has estimated restoration times listed on its website. About 1,613 Deep East Texas customers in Jasper and Newton counties are without power. 

  • The majority of Jasper County customers are expected to have power in the next three to five days (according to Deep East Texas website on Aug. 31) 
  • Newton County, with the exception of those around Toledo Bend, should be restored within seven to 10 days
  • Customers around Toledo Bend should be restored within two weeks 

Jasper-Newton Electric Cooperative reports that more than 7,700 of its customers have had power restored as well out of 21,000 who lost power. 

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