Utility trucks ready to repair hurricane damage

Utility workers were preparing to repair major damage to the power grid from Hurricane Ida on Monday.

The hurricane twisted and collapsed a giant tower that carries key transmission lines over the Mississippi River to the New Orleans area, causing widespread outages, Entergy and local authorities said. The power company said more than 2,000 miles of transmission lines were out of service, along with 216 substations. The tower had survived Katrina.

The storm also flattened utility poles, toppled trees onto power lines and caused transformers to explode. The governor said 25,000 utility workers were in the state to help restore electricity, with more on the way.