Pineville, La., Sept. 14, 2020 – The National Hurricane Center has upgraded Tropical Storm Sally to a hurricane, and it is projected to make landfall as at least a Category 1 hurricane between Monday night and Tuesday morning near the southeast Louisiana border and Mississippi.

“We’ve prepared for Hurricane Sally by moving some of our resources to southeast Louisiana while maintaining the work force needed in southwest Louisiana to complete our rebuilding and restoration work in that part of the state following Hurricane Laura,” said James Lass, director of distribution operations and emergency management.  “While the latest forecast shows Sally has shifted slightly from our eastern district, power outages and system damage are still possible due to projected high winds and heavy rainfall.  Now is the time to prepare.  We strongly encourage our customers on the Northshore to prepare.”

In additional to Cleco personnel, Cleco has approximately 500 contractors ready to respond to any outages caused by Sally as soon as conditions are safe.

Cleco has restored power to 99 percent of all customers impacted by Laura.  Crews are working to restore power to roughly 400 remaining customers in Allen, Beauregard and Calcasieu parishes. 

In preparation for Hurricane Sally, Cleco encourages customers to:

• Prepare a storm kit – gather supplies you might need for an outage, including flashlight, batteries, canned food, manual can opener, bottled water, medication and a first aid kit.
• Clear patio furniture and other objects that could move in high winds and cause damage or injury.
• Charge cell phones, tablets and laptops.
• Do not connect portable generators to your home’s electrical wiring and never operate in an enclosed space like a garage.
• If water is getting close to your home or business, turn off individual breakers and then turn off the electricity at the main breaker.
• If you see downed power lines, treat them as if they are energized.Stay away from downed power lines, any objects they are touching and areas with debris.Report a downed power line or any unsafe situation involving electricity immediately by calling Cleco at 1-800-622-6537 and 911.