NEW ORLEANS — Ida and last year's hurricane season didn't do any favors to the utility poles in the area. You don't have to look far to see one that may need some attention. People in town say they need to be fixed.
Whether it's on Veterans Boulevard, the Marigny, or along Magazine Street, bent or broken utility poles can be found all over.
"For Ida, many of the poles that broke, that failed and had to be replaced they had just installed last fall ," said Drew Ward. "There's no way a pole with an expected lifespan of 50 years should fail right away unless it wasn't installed correctly."
Ward lives in New Orleans and says no matter where he is in town, there are poles that need fixing.
"You don't have to be an engineer to see something leaning this way is not installed correctly," said Ward.
He's noticed poles replaced after Zeta came down in Ida. And some of the new ones replaced after Ida are already leaning.
"When you take a pole and you start pulling it in one direction there's nothing you can do to keep it from falling more," said Ward. "And some are leaning up to 30 degrees to the point where it's a matter of time before they fall on someone's car and kill them."
We spoke with District A councilman, Joe Giarrusso. He tells Eyewitness news his constituents have reached out expressing concern. A statement he sent says: “While utility poles are the responsibility of the respective utilities, my office reports complaints of downed, damaged, or rotting poles to the utility companies. We received a slew of reports of problem utility poles the month after Hurricane Ida, but those complaints have slowed down. Even with the slow down, we continue to forward complaints of problem utility poles to the utilities.”
"There needs to be a full system wide survey of every pole replaced," Ward says.
The solution lies in the hands of the respective utility companies, like Entergy or ATT. Ward says whatever the case, the problem needs to be fixed now rather than later. That way when the next storm hits, New Orleans and surrounding areas will be ready.
"By having these installed like this we're setting ourselves up for failure, for another massive grid failure above the board," he said.
We reached out to Entergy and AT&T who have yet to respond.