An 18-wheeler struck a power pole along Veterans Boulevard in Metairie around 11 a.m. Friday, knocking out electricity to roughly 1,300 Entergy customers in the area. Entergy crews were on the scene working to restore power as the utility company said it was actively working to bring customers back online.
The crash was reported by WDSU. The station said it would provide more information as it becomes available. Details on the driver, any injuries, or the exact cause of the collision have not been released.
A Corridor Already Under the Microscope
A Corridor Already Under the Microscope
This is not the first time a large commercial vehicle has taken down power infrastructure in the area. A semi-truck near Ferran and Taft Park pulled down three utility poles and left 1,530 customers without electricity, per a report from WWL-TV. A separate vehicle collision with a pole in Metairie in July 2024 knocked out power to more than 2,600 customers at its peak, the same station reported.
Storms Just Hit the Grid a Day Earlier
The timing is notable because severe thunderstorms and flash flooding across Jefferson Parish had already caused power outages one day before Friday's crash, WWL-TV reported. That back-to-back sequence of storm damage and a vehicle strike underscores how quickly outages can stack up during Metairie's active late-summer weather stretch, a pattern Hoodline covered in its report on the storm-driven outages across Jefferson Parish the day before.
Veterans Boulevard itself is currently in the middle of a $270 million Entergy Louisiana grid resilience project launched in mid-August, aimed at replacing or reinforcing more than 500 utility poles designed to withstand winds up to 140 mph. Hoodline detailed that $270 million pole-hardening effort when it launched.
Legal Questions Around Pole Strikes
Incidents like Friday's crash can raise questions about liability. Separately, overhead-line safety is addressed as a distinct concern.
Grid reliability in Metairie carries stakes beyond the inconvenience of a blackout. Jefferson Parish's emergency operations rely on regional pumping infrastructure to help prevent suburban flooding during severe weather, Hoodline has reported. The broader grid work is separate from roadway safety upgrades.
Entergy crews remained on scene Friday working to restore service, and WDSU said it would update its coverage as more details emerge about the cause of the crash and the condition of the driver.
