Storm Ida: Second person dies as a million face weeks without power in aftermath of hurricane
Follow here for the latest updates after weather system makes landfall at Port Fourchon
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Hurricane Ida, the fifth-strongest to ever hit the mainland United States, has finally been downgraded to a tropical storm after spending 16 hours churning across Louisiana in what Joe Biden declared a “major disaster”.
Two people were confirmed dead in the storm’s aftermath, with the death toll expected to rise “considerably”.
Intensifying faster than experts had predicted, the weather system blasted into New Orleans exactly 16 years to the day after the devastating Hurricane Katrina, where it knocked power out across the city, tore off roofs and even reversed the flow of the Mississippi River.
Residents of the Gulf Coast evacuated their homes and businesses were shut down as much of the Louisiana coastline was plunged underwater. The hurricane claimed at least one life, after a tree fell onto a residential property in Baton Rouge.
Louisiana’s governor John Bel Edwards lamented that, “if you had to draw up the worst possible path for a hurricane in Louisiana, it would be something very, very close to what we’re seeing”, warning residents of his state to brace for potentially weeks of recovery.
It was declared a tropical storm on Monday by the National Hurricane Centre, which warned that dangerous storm surges, damaging winds, and flash flooding would continue over portions of southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi.
Flooding worsens in Biloxi, Mississippi
Flooding has intensified in Biloxi, Mississippi, where a casino’s parking garage was underwater by late Sunday morning.
Reporter Justin Mitchell captured the scene on video.
Violent wind and waves seen in Grand Isle, Louisiana
Video from Fox 8 NOLA reporter Zack Fradella shows brutal winds and waves rocking the island town of Grand Isle, Louisiana.
Photos show severe flooding from Hurricane Ida in Mississippi
FEMA sends thousands of workers to US southeast
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has sent 2,400 of its employees to states being hit by Hurricane Ida, CNN has reported.
Those states include Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Texas.
“FEMA is working with its federal, state and local partners as well as non-governmental agencies to support needs of areas affected by Ida,” FEMA said in a statement. “The agency positioned supplies such as meals, water, and generators to assist states with impacts from this storm.”
Video shows the view inside Hurricane Ida
Video from a NOAA aircraft shows the view inside the hurricane currently barreling toward Louisiana.
Power outages have left almost 93,000 people without electricity in Louisiana
As Hurricane Ida bears down on Louisiana, 92,609 people in the state have lost their electricity, according to poweroutage.us.
PowerOutage.US
PowerOutage.US is an ongoing project created to track, record, and aggregate power outages across the united states.
Hurricane Ida has made landfall, hitting Louisiana with 150mph winds
Hurricane Ida has officially made landfall, reaching the southeastern coast of Louisiana near Port Fourchon at 11:55am.
The storm brought winds blowing at 150 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service Hurricane Center.
“Ida made landfall as an extremely dangerous category 4 hurricane near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph and a minimum central pressure of 930 mb (27.46 inches),” the Center said in a tweet.
Power outages have affected over 150,000 Louisianans
Over 150,000 people in Louisiana have now lost their electricity due to Hurricane Ida, according to poweroutage.us.
One energy provider, Entergy, says some customers will have to wait weeks for their power to be restored.
“Every storm is unique,” Entergy said on its website. “Based on historical restoration times, customers in the direct path of a Category 4 hurricane can experience outages up to three weeks and beyond three weeks for a Category 5 hurricane.”
PowerOutage.US
PowerOutage.US is an ongoing project created to track, record, and aggregate power outages across the united states.
Torrential rain pummels Leeville, LA, just north of where Ida made landfall
Video footage shows the nightmarish view in Leeville, Louisiana, as it gets pummeled with torrential rain and powerful winds. Leeville is just north of Port Fourchon, where Hurricane Ida made landfall.
Ida ties with 2020 hurricane for Louisiana’s strongest storm ever
As a Category 4 hurricane with 150mph winds, Ida has tied for the record of Louisiana’s strongest storm in history, CNN has reported.
Ida’s fearsome strength matches that of two other storms: the Last Island Hurricane of 1856, and Hurricane Laura of 2020.
That makes Louisiana the first state in history to face hurricanes with winds of over 150mph in two consecutive years.
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