NEW ORLEANS – From Cox Communications:
We have completed assessments in Orleans Parish and have pockets of our network in St. Charles and Jefferson parishes that cannot be accessed due to down poles and flooding. Approximately 65 miles of damage have been identified to our network infrastructure so far in our Greater New Orleans service area, with more damage expected once harder hit areas in St. Charles and Jefferson parishes have been assessed. During the height of Hurricane Ida, 99 percent of our Greater New Orleans customers were offline. We have connected nearly 40 percent of those customers to their Cox services.
As of Monday afternoon, more than 85 percent of customers in Greater Baton Rouge are online, and crews are continuing restoration efforts in that area.
Crews will continue to prioritize emergency preparedness facilities, first responders, medical facilities and schools in our restoration efforts alongside repairing damage that would restore the most residents upon repair. We follow closely behind the restoration of power and work diligently to restore all services as soon as possible.
“Some of the harder hit areas require new power poles to be installed,” said Anthony Pope, senior vice president and region manager for the Cox Southeast Region. “Since vital components of the Cox network are attached to these poles, our services cannot be restored to that area until the power crews have completed their work. We are continuing to work on our damaged network in the harder hit areas, so services come back online as soon as the power is restored.”
As power comes back online, customers may need to unplug their Cox equipment for 10 seconds then plug it back in to establish a connection. As a reminder, as work continues in the community, there may be intermittent power outages and power surges.
As previously announced, credits will be provided to all residential customers who experienced outages due to Hurricane Ida. Any late fee charges assessed during this time will be reversed, and customers will not be charged for damaged Cox owned equipment. Our Storm Assistance Plan is also available to temporarily suspend services for up to 6 months at no charge if a customer needs to leave their home but doesn’t need to move services to another address.
All Cox Solutions Stores in Greater New Orleans remain closed.
As the recovery efforts continue, Cox would like to remind residents:
- Keep away from loose, dangling or down lines. Treat every line as if it is an active power line.
- Avoid placing storm debris near Cox pedestals in your yard to prevent damage.
Additionally, crews will continue to practice social distancing, and Cox asks that customers do the same. For the safety of our crews and all those involved, please stay away from work zones.
Residents can get more information about frequently asked questions and receive updates at Cox.com.
