VERMILION PARISH, KATC — A powerful snowstorm that brought historic snowfall to Vermilion Parish has left thousands without power and put a strain on the region’s infrastructure.
Drone footage by Raymond de Perrodil captured the scene as the storm blanketed the area in thick snow. While many residents found joy in the rare winter weather, others faced frustration as power outages began to affect homes across the parish.
“It’s frustrating, it’s disheartening, it’s scary,” said Cheryl Trahan, a resident of Perry. She described how the storm had disrupted her household and left her scrambling for solutions.
Entergy, one of the area’s primary power provider, reported that more than 1,000 customers lost power as the storm intensified. Social media posts flooded local feeds, with many residents sharing their experiences. One post read, “Anyone else’s power out?” while another said, “Power is out. Prayers for the linemen.”
Trahan, who has relied on a generator to power her home, said the cost of running it has become an additional strain. “We do have generator power, but we can’t run the central [heating] with that,” she said. “It gets expensive. Right now, my husband is in between jobs. He doesn’t start back until the 29th. If we didn’t have a little bit of money saved up, we wouldn’t be able to afford it.”
Trahan, who is battling stage 4 kidney failure, added that the loss of power has become a significant source of stress for her and her family. “It’s just an added burden,” she said.
As the outages continued, I turned to Facebook to connect with other residents in the area. Many expressed similar concerns about the impact of the storm and power loss on their homes and livelihoods.
According to an Entergy representative, crews were working to restore power, but no specific reason for the outages was provided. The representative said power would be restored by 6 p.m. Wednesday evening.
I also reached out to Public Service Commissioner Mike Francis, who oversees utilities in the area. Francis explained that the demand for electricity had reached record levels due to the extreme cold, putting significant strain on the power grid.
“This is a record amount of electricity demand because of the cold weather. It puts the system to the maximum,” Francis said. “From what I understand, the outages in Perry were caused by a large demand on electricity.”
Despite the challenges, Francis expressed confidence that the power would be restored and that things would return to normal soon.
“People here always help each other out,” Francis said. “That’s just the spirit of Vermilion Parish.”
