BATON ROUGE – More 16,000 Entergy customers and 22,000 DEMCO meters are without power Monday as crews work across central Louisiana to restore power.

Entergy Louisiana crews expect to restore power to all customers that can accept it by Monday night, however floodwater is continuing to hinder restoration efforts to thousands of homes and businesses.

As of 6:40 p.m. on Monday, more than 16,000 customers were without power, down from more than 26,000 from Sunday night. Entergy has assembled a storm team of more than 500 and has about 12,500 more customers in need of restoration, however work in those areas cannot begin until floodwater recedes.

Those affected customers should prepare to be without power for an extended period, according to Entergy officials. The hardest hit areas by the severe weather and flooding are northern and eastern Livingston, Tangipahoa, Ascension and East Baton Rouge parishes.

The vast majority of customers without power are concentrated in Livingston and East Baton Rouge parishes. As of 12 p.m., more than 6,300 customers in Livingston Parish are without power. More than 6,000 are without power in East Baton Rouge Parish.

"We continue monitoring areas where floodwaters may become an issue," said Dennis Dawsey, vice president of customer service in Louisiana. "Customers in areas inaccessible due to floodwaters will have to wait for waters to recede before we will be able to restore power," Dawsey said.

When returning to areas that have been flooded, customers should call 1-800-ENTERGY (1-800-368-3749) to request service reconnections.

The following ZIP codes have the most customers without power as of 12 p.m. Monday:

Denham Springs, 70726 – 5,506 customers

Baton Rouge, 70815 – 1,682 customers

Baton Rouge, 70816 – 1,467 customers

Prairieville, 70769 -1,318 customers

Baton Rouge, 70817 - 1,144 customers

More information, as well as a detailed map on all Entergy power outages can be found at the Entergy website HERE.

Customers are encouraged to download Entergy's mobile app to access maps and information. For real-time progress on restoration work see the View Outages feature at entergy.com. In addition, online services are available to customers through "Entergy Storm Center," and "myAccount." Through myAccount, customers can sign up to send and receive text information about power outages at their homes and businesses through their cellphones.

David Latona, a spokesperson for DEMCO, said more than 20,000 meters are without power through East Baton Rouge, Ascension, Livingston, and East Feliciana parishes. 

Latona said that the bulk of the DEMCO outages happened after three company substations were "de-energized" due to rising flood water. DEMCO crews are now working around the clock to restore power to customers. Latona said customers should be patient as crews can not work in some areas due to high water.

A detailed map of all DEMCO power outages can be found at the DEMCO website. 

This is a developing story. Stay tuned to WBRZ News 2 online and on Facebook and Twitter for updates as more information becomes available.