Hurricane Zeta leaves half mln without power in U.S. Louisiana

Houston, USA | XINHUA |    Over half a million people were without power in the U.S. state of Louisiana after Category 2 Hurricane Zeta made landfall Wednesday afternoon along the Gulf Coast, authorities said Thursday.

At the peak, about 531,000 people were without power in the state, Louisiana governor’s office cited numbers from the Public Service Commission as saying.

In the area of New Orleans, about 470,000 people were without power Thursday morning, energy companies said. Local media quoted power companies as saying that power will be restored some time this weekend. In some areas, people have to wait as long as 10 days before the service is restored.

Many of the outages were the result of 200-plus “tree emergencies” reported to New Orleans officials in the aftermath of Zeta. Some trees ripped down power lines, local media reported.

According to the National Hurricane Center, Zeta has downgraded to a tropical storm. At least three deaths have been blamed on the storm in Louisiana, Mississippi and Georgia.

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