Prayers answered; utility company responds with tree trimming crews
BATON ROUGE - Tree trimming trucks are giving hope to one neighborhood that's had several power outages so far this year. They were in the Mayfair Park area starting Monday morning.
Entergy responded fast, inspecting the power lines to provide Barbara Woods and her neighbors with electricity. She spoke with 2 On Your Side earlier this month about the problems she has during inclement weather in her neighborhood. Woods says she says a prayer every time it rains.
"I pray and ask God to please help us, you know," she said.
Woods called 2 On Your Side hoping to get some answers. Those answers showed up this week in the form of bucket trucks and chainsaws.
"Thank goodness, maybe this time it's being fixed," Woods said.
Entergy says there have been a handful of outages in the Mayfair Park area since early 2023. The outages tend to happen during stormy weather when trees impact the electric system. Woods recalls it happening more than a handful of times.
"If the wind blows and there's thunder and lightning and all of this then we lose power," Woods said.
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It's not the case across the street, where Woods says they don't have power problems. There are about a dozen or so homes that lose power when their neighbors across the street don't have an issue.
Entergy says the electric department did not find any substantial issues with the power line, but the vegetation department identified some steps to enhance service reliability. Crews will clean up vines on the electric equipment and perform trimming in areas where necessary. Entergy says it's planning to collaborate with the neighborhood to potentially remove a couple of trees that could pose a risk during severe weather.
Woods hopes the steps being taken by the utility company will provide a better outcome in the future.
"I'm keeping my fingers crossed," Woods said.
Entergy says it takes all customer concerns seriously and is committed to improving service reliability in the area. Entergy says its efforts aim to ensure that the neighborhood is better prepared to withstand storms and other adverse conditions.