Louisiana gas stations still grapple with outages as Hurricane Ida cleanup continues

Fuel waivers for Louisiana, Mississippi slated to last until Sept. 16

Louisiana gas stations are still grappling with outages more than a week after one of the most powerful hurricanes made landfall in the Gulf Coast region, leaving few areas with fuel and even power. 

As of 7 a.m. CT Monday, 65.2% of stations in Baton Rouge are still out of fuel, GasBuddy's Patrick De Haan tweeted. 

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According to De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, nearly 62% of stations in New Orleans and over 58% of stations in Lafayette are also facing outages.  

The percentage of outages in each of the aforementioned cities stayed relatively the same compared to Sunday's figures. However, it's a slight improvement from Saturday when outages in Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Lafayette were at 74.3%, 65.6% and 63%, respectively.  

St. Bernard Parish residents fill up their cars and gas cans as the Louisiana coast prepares for the arrival of Hurricane Ida on Friday, Aug. 27, 2021 in New Orleans. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP / AP Newsroom)

De Haan also cautioned motorists that 15.1% of stations in Biloxi, Mississippi, were out of fuel on Saturday as well as 7.4% in Jackson and another 5.1% in Hattiesburg. 

Ida, which made landfall on Aug. 29 in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, with winds of 155 miles per hour, knocked out over 90% of the offshore Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production, according to Reuters. 

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Entergy Corporation, which delivers electricity to millions of customers throughout Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, also noted that Ida’s "catastrophic intensity" impacted major transmission lines.

A day after the storm hit, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan issued emergency fuel waivers for Louisiana and Mississippi, effective immediately, due to the "extreme and unusual fuel supply circumstances." 

The move temporarily lifts some regulations in Louisiana and Mississippi in order to help "improve the fuel supply circumstances caused by Hurricane Ida," the agency said.  

The waivers are slated to end on Sept. 16.