With the power out and roads closed, northern Louisiana continues to struggle after winter storm

Tens of thousands remained without power Tuesday in north and central Louisiana as residents braced for more below-freezing temperatures, even as south Louisiana was mostly spared from the worst of the week’s severe winter weather.

Over the weekend, a winter storm that has ravaged much of the country blanketed the upper half of the state with snow and ice, snapping trees and bringing down power lines.

By Tuesday morning, the death toll related to the storm had climbed to at least six, state officials reported. The Louisiana Department of Health confirmed that three people died of hypothermia, with two other suspected hypothermia deaths.

One man died of carbon monoxide poisoning and another died in a fatal wreck related to icy conditions, the agency said. A woman also died after her oxygen concentrator failed during a power outage, according to the agency.

Meanwhile, road conditions prevented some residents from evacuating their homes and shut down parts of the northern parishes.

Drivers were stranded for as many as 20 hours on Interstate 20, according to social media reports, as stuck 18-wheelers near Arcadia and Ruston brought traffic to a standstill. Louisiana State Police troopers conducted supply drops, welfare checks and ATV evacuations in the area.

As of late afternoon Tuesday, over 90,000 customers still lacked power, according to poweroutage.us.

Gov. Jeff Landy toured East and West Carroll parishes by air on Tuesday, when he also met with leaders in Ouachita and Richland parishes to discuss the effects of the storm. Landry has said he is contacting the White House in hopes of getting federal aid.

East Carroll shuts down

The storm’s impact was especially pronounced in East Carroll Parish, which lost power almost entirely.

“It’s been catastrophic,” Sheriff Wydette Williams said. “We’ve had storms before, but the way the power lines and trees snapped like toothpicks, I’ve never saw this before.”

The hospital, prisons, a grocery store and other public spaces were relying on backup generators, Williams said.

It was unclear when power would be restored.

“We have received word from Entergy that they have run into far more problems than anticipated,” the sheriff’s office posted on Facebook. “They are in the parish on the ground working diligently, but they cannot commit to a definitive time and date when electrical services will be restored.”

Residents in East Carroll also lost water service, and some struggled to keep medical devices running amid the outage, according to a release from Delta Interfaith, a coalition of congregations and community organizations in the Louisiana Delta. Blocked roads prevented some residents from evacuating, the release said.

Before the storm, Prudence Grissom bought a propane heater for her East Carroll home. “They advertise that it’s safe indoors,” she said. But just to be sure, the 70-year-old placed it in a doorway, leading to a hallway. Over the course of the weekend, Grissom found herself sleeping for six-hour stretches, struggling to wake up.

A friend called, and on Sunday, when Grissom failed to pick up, alerted the sheriff’s office. A deputy knocked loud enough that Grissom awoke.

“At that point, I said, ‘OK, it has to be this heater,’” she said. “I haven’t been using it since.”

Instead, Grissom donned three sweaters, two pairs of pants and several sets of socks. She lit candles. She watched from her window as ice-coated tree branches snapped and fell.

Grissom moved to East Carroll a decade ago to care for her mother. She is from New Orleans, where after Hurricane Katrina, she lived without power for weeks.

“You put one step in front of another,” she said. “You do the best you can.”

Upcoming temperatures

The Baton Rouge, Lafayette and New Orleans areas were expected to see lows in the upper 20s and lower 30s Tuesday and Wednesday nights, according to the National Weather Service, which forecast that temperatures would stay in the low 40s Thursday night.

Meanwhile, temperatures near Shreveport, Monroe and Alexandria would be in the 20s Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and hover just above freezing on Thursday night, the agency predicted.

The state is expected to see temperatures drop again over the weekend, when nighttime temperatures could dip into the teens near Monroe, Alexandria, Baton Rouge and Lafayette.

Officials have urged residents to follow safety instructions when using devices like space heaters and generators, and to avoid driving in north and central Louisiana.

The state has opened dozens of warming centers that are available to the public. Residents looking for more information on how to stay safe during the storm can visit getagameplan.org.