BATON ROUGE, La. – In addition to around-the-clock work still ongoing at the Livingston Parish telecommunications data center, Cox Communications crews will be working in Ascension and East Baton Rouge communities to repair outages, neighborhood by neighborhood, in those areas hit the hardest by flooding.  

Customers in Livingston Parish should expect to see services restored in some non-flooded areas as soon as this weekend.

“We thank our customers for being patient with us as we continue to make progress repairing our facilities and infrastructure that was damaged by record-breaking flood waters,” said Cox Southeast Region Manager and Senior Vice President Anthony Pope.  “More than 400 technicians and engineers have joined our local teams in this restoration effort. Cox will continue to work around-the-clock until our region is reconnected,” he continued.

Much of the expansive 13-parish South Louisiana area serviced by the Cox network remained intact during the recent floods, but the company is aware some customers may be experiencing outages especially in hard hit Livingston, East Baton Rouge and Ascension parishes.

The Cox Solutions Store in Millerville also remains closed, due to flooding and extensive damage, until further notice.

Progress being made in parish/neighborhood recovery efforts:

Crews from across the nation will aid in the network recovery efforts this weekend. The company reports it is making significant progress restoring its Denham Springs secondary telecommunications center (STC) damaged during the flood. This telecommunications hub feeds services to all of Livingston Parish. 

Teams of technicians also will be visiting neighborhoods in East Baton Rouge and Ascension parishes tinspecting the above-ground equipment and underground fiber and coax. Customers are reminded to keep debris away from Cox equipment pedestals.

Storm Recovery Package:

Cox is offering a Storm Recovery Package to South Louisiana residents impacted by the flood, who would like to temporarily suspend their services. The Storm Recovery Package allows customers to keep their existing email and phone number at no charge for up to 12 months. This will allow customers to check email or voicemail from a computer or phone outside their home. Customers should call 877-556-7815 to activate the plan.

Displaced customers, who would simply like to transfer their existing services to another address while their home is under repair, can do so at no charge.

Out of Home Viewing:

Cox also recently announced a partnership with local broadcasters in its Greater Baton Rouge service area to offer temporary and unprecedented out of home TV access to its customers who were displaced or impacted by the flood. This is in addition to the up to 50 cable networks such as HGTV, Weather Channel, Travel and MTV that Cox customers already have access to through the Cox Contour App.

Effective immediately, greater Baton Rouge area customers can stream live, local broadcast feeds from a mobile device using the Cox Contour App. From now through September 16, Cox TV customers can view ABC (WBRZ), NBC (WVLA), CBS (WAFB), Fox (WGMB) and CW (WBRL) from any internet source on their tablet or phone via the Cox Contour App, even if away from home. These live streams are also available on a computer at watchtv.cox.com. The Out of Home viewing option is not available to customers on the Storm Recovery Package.

“The Out of Home viewing option will enable our displaced customers to access local information during disaster recovery allowing them to still feel connected while away from home,” said Pope.

Customer Advisories:

• Customers will not be charged for flood-damaged cable boxes and modems that are rented monthly from Cox.

• While cleaning your property, do not place debris next to or on top of Cox pedestals. Keeping pedestals clear allows our crews to repair and replace cables.

• All of our technicians, whether employee or contractor, must display a Cox Logo badge at all times.Also, the vehicle in which the technician will be operating will have the large Cox logo or a contractor magnet which will display the contractor company name along with the Cox logo.

Reason why customers might not have cable services despite having power:

• Although you may have never lost power to your home, the node (power source) that provides Cox services to your neighborhood may have been damaged and/or lost power. Power could also be out between the “‘node” and your home.
• Also, the energy power path to your home may not mirror the power path of our telecommunication services to your home. Power and cable can be independent of one another.

For additional storm updates, please visit cox.com or @coxcommunications on Facebook.

About Cox Communications
Cox Communications is a broadband communications and entertainment company, providing advanced digital video, Internet, telephone and home security and automation services over its own nationwide IP network. The third-largest U.S. cable company, Cox serves approximately 6 million residences and businesses. Cox Business is a facilities-based provider of voice, video and data solutions for commercial customers, and Cox Media is a full-service provider of national and local cable spot and digital media advertising. Cox is known for its pioneering efforts in broadband, voice and commercial services, industry-leading customer care and its outstanding workplaces. For nine years, Cox has been recognized as the top operator for women by Women in Cable Telecommunications; Cox has ranked among DiversityInc's Top 50 Companies for Diversity 11 times. More information about Cox Communications, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises, is available at www.cox.com and www.coxmedia.com.

Media Contacts:

Sharon S Truxillo, Public Affairs Manager, Baton Rouge

Sharon.Truxillo@cox.com or 225-237-5141