Ike Aftermath - May take 4 weeks to return all power

Here is the direct link to reports on restoring power. Note that they said it may take up to 4 weeks to restore all power. I'm assuming that is for the worst areas mainly south and east of Houston. Here is the link:
http://www.centerpointenergy.com/newsroom/stormcenter/ike/

And here is the statement from Centerpoint:
As Hurricane Ike approached Galveston Island on Friday, Sept. 12, CenterPoint Energy’s customers began to experience power outages. As of 11 a.m., on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2.1 million of CenterPoint Energy’s 2.26 million customers were without power. Most of this widespread damage was caused by intense wind that blew toppled trees, broken branches and fallen debris onto power lines.
CenterPoint Energy knows the location of the power outages and requests customers call only to report safety concerns, such as downed power lines or natural gas leaks. CenterPoint Energy crews are ready to respond to any gas emergencies resulting from Hurricane Ike.
“The impact of Hurricane Ike on our service territory has been extensive and widespread, affecting more than 90 percent of our customers, which is the largest power outage event in our company’s more than 130-year history,” said Kenny Mercado, division senior vice president of CenterPoint Energy’s Electric Operations. “While service remains available to the Texas Medical Center, downtown Houston and Bush Intercontinental Airport, most of the rest of our service territory is currently without power.
“As the storm leaves our territory, we are beginning to assess the damage to our transmission and distribution systems, and more than 7,000 mutual assistance skilled personnel will begin arriving Sunday to help. However, we anticipate it will take four weeks or longer for restoration to be complete, and we may need to request additional assistance from other utilities,” Mercado added.
Watch here for the latest news and outage maps. For information on hurricane safety tips you can follow before, during and after a storm visit our Storm Center.

Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman