Emergency order issued for Ike

The Commercial Appeal, 9/9/8

Gov. Haley Barbour issued a declaration of emergency Monday in advance of a possible landfall by Hurricane Ike.

Meanwhile, more than 14,000 workers with Entergy remained at work restoring power in Louisiana in the wake of Hurricane Gustav.

The utility claimed it had re-connected 99 percent of its customers in New Orleans, but still had more than 200,000 customers without power in the rest of the state.

Electrical power was restored to all of Mississippi by Saturday morning.

“If it appears that Ike is going to come in to the Mississippi-Louisiana coastal area, we have plans to evacuate all 14,000 workers from Louisiana until the storm passes,” said Pat Nelson, regional customer service manager for Entergy in Southaven.