The regular meeting of the Minden City Council on Monday was canceled after a citywide power outage left City Hall and much of the city without electricity.
The power went out just before 5 PM, forcing the cancellation of the scheduled council meeting. The meeting had not been rescheduled as of press time.
Initially, the cause of the outage was unknown. Although a downed tree on Homer Road had been reported, city officials did not believe it was responsible for the widespread outage.
Later Monday evening, Mayor Nick Cox announced that the city’s electric department had located the source of the outage on the transmission line along Bayou Avenue. Crews were on site preparing to make repairs.
According to Cox, weather conditions remained the biggest challenge. City crews were also responding to storm-related damage, including a downed tree on East and West Street and a large tree limb near Fibrebond.
Before repairs could begin, Entergy was required to de-energize the feed lines so city crews could work safely. Cox said repairs would begin immediately once the lines had been de-energized.
Temperatures were around 90 degrees, and severe thunderstorms were forecast for the area.
“The trick is we don’t know what’s going on,” Cox had said earlier in the evening before the source of the outage was identified. He said the scope of the outage quickly became apparent as messages began arriving on his phone. “I started looking at who texted me and I thought, oh man, it’s all over the city.”
“To make matters worse there’s a storm coming,” Cox said. “It might help cool things off, but it makes our job harder.”
Cox said the Public Works Department had been inundated with calls from residents seeking information.
“They’re answering as quickly as possible,” he said.
City officials encouraged residents to remain patient as crews worked to restore power. During outages in hot weather, residents should stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water, limit strenuous outdoor activity during the hottest part of the day, and check on elderly neighbors, young children, and anyone with medical conditions who may be more vulnerable to heat-related illness. Officials also recommend keeping refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to preserve food, using flashlights instead of candles to reduce fire risk, and never operating portable generators inside homes, garages, or other enclosed spaces because of the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning. Drivers are reminded to treat intersections with non-functioning traffic signals as four-way stops until power is restored.