Contact: Hannah Wenninger, City of Natchitoches
Phone: (318) 352-2772
Email: hwenninger@natchitochesla.gov
2/18/21
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CITY UPDATES CITIZENS ON CURRENT POWER OUTAGES AND WATER SYSTEM PRESSURE
NATCHITOCHES – The City would like to advise the public that tonight, temperatures are expected to dip down into the lower 20s and Natchitoches is under a Hard Freeze Warning from 6:00 p.m. this evening until 10:00 a.m. Friday morning.
The offices of the City of Natchitoches will remain closed on Friday, February 19, 2021. We expect to have all offices back open on Monday, February, 22, 2021.
The City has received numerous calls and social media comments expressing frustration towards the current power and water situation we have encountered due to the winter weather conditions. We understand your frustration and hope the following information provides you with more insight into the plan of action to restore utility services to our customers.
Approximately, 1300 customers are currently without power in the City of Natchitoches, but crews are making headway. Electrical crews have been working in both east and west Natchitoches throughout the day and will continue throughout the night. When assessing outages, areas with the most customers served are addressed first and then crews move on to more isolated cases. During this particular event, crews have been faced with restoring power only to find out of another power failure has occurred. Just this afternoon, the City of Lafayette dispatched a crew to help restore power to our customers and are already on the ground working. This crew will work alongside our City crew until power has been restored to all of our customers.
As far as the Natchitoches Water System, pressure cannot and will not be restored until temperatures rise and stay above freezing. The City has assessed their waterlines and have not found any major breaks. What this tells us is, we have customers that are experiencing leaks on their end, which is draining the water system. Some of our customers may not know that they have a leak due to frozen pipes, but if a customer knows they have a leak, please turn off your water. If you need assistance cutting your water off, please contact (318)357-3880 and our crews will be happy to assist you. The average pressure of our water system is 55 pounds and we are currently fluctuating between 0 – 20 pounds in different areas of this city. This pressure is not sustainable to deliver water to our customers. Once the temperature is above freezing and homeowner repairs the water leaks, we should see a rise in water system pressure. From there, the Boil Advisory will remain in effect until the water system can be flushed and the state tests the water for quality consumption. Customers can expect to have low to zero pressure for 3-4 days.
The offices of the City of Natchitoches will remain closed on Friday, February 19, 2021. We expect to have all offices back open on Monday, February, 22, 2021.
Waste Connections has notified the City garbage trucks will not run on Friday, February 19, 2021. Trucks will resume their normal routes once road conditions improve.
Further updates will be posted to the City’s website and facebook page @CityofNatchitoches if necessary.
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