ST. FRANCISVILLE — A tornado caused significant damage to the power grid in the Felicianas this week, prompting DEMCO to announce Thursday that restoring electrical service in the region will take "significant time and resources."

Severe storms Tuesday and Wednesday interrupted power for more than 189,000 homes and businesses across Louisiana. The figure stood at 69,567 late Thursday morning. DEMCO's had fallen from 26,000 to 6,123 and Entergy Louisiana said power remained out for 17,738 homes and businesses, after hitting the 80,000-mark Wednesday.

The greatest outages remaining are in a swath from St. Landry Parish to East Feliciana. Online tracking services estimated that, at midday Thursday, power remained out to 75 percent of West Feliciana Parish customers, 40 percent in East Feliciana, 20 percent in St. Landry Parish and 8 percent in Pointe Coupee Parish.

The National Weather Service said a tornado with a preliminary rating of EF-1 — suggesting winds of 86-110 mph — hit north of St. Francisville. 

According to DEMCO spokeswoman Anne Hawes, the storm caused substantial damage along a 20-mile stretch of West Feliciana Parish. 

"Large trees and 75 mph winds brought down massive electric infrastructure, necessitating the installation of new poles,  lines and transformers to reinstate service," she said. "Given the scale of the destruction, the restoration efforts in East and West Feliciana parishes will require significant time and resources."

DEMCO services in Ascension, East Baton Rouge, Livingston and St. Helena parishes should be restored by Thursday night, Hawes said.

Entergy outage maps showed the entire town of Clinton in East Feliciana was without service at midday Thursday. The utility was also telling customers that most power should be restored by Thursday night.