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.
New Orleans EMS suspends operations ‘due to dangerous winds'
New Orleans Emergency Medical Services has suspended operations due to unsafe weather conditions, it announced on Twitter.
“NOEMS operations have been suspended due to dangerous winds,” the agency said. “We will address calls accordingly once it is safe for our first responders.”
Video shows tree being blown onto house by Ida’s winds
Video shows the moment winds from Hurricane Ida blew a tree onto a neighboring house in Harvey, Louisiana.
Horrifying video shows man wading out into storm surge
The National Weather Service has retweeted a video of a man deliberately walking into a storm surge, and emphatically warned others not to do the same.
“Absolutely DO NOT go into Storm Surge,” NWS New Orleans tweeted. “This is an extremely dangerous and LIFE-THREATENING situation and this man is putting his life in imminent danger. Stay inside, hunker down in an interior room or closet or bathroom and STAY PUT!”
More than 300,000 people in Louisiana are now without power
The number of people without electricity in Louisiana has skyrocketed up to 301,965, according to poweroutage.us.
Only about an hour ago, that number was at approximately 105,000.
Footage shows Louisiana fire station flooded in just one hour
Video footage shows the dramatic flooding of a fire station in St Bernard Parish, Louisiana over just one hour.
Baton Rouge hospital may have to put Covid beds in hallways if Ida brings new patients
Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is already filled to capacity due to Covid-19, and may need to care for patients in hallways if Hurricane Ida brings in new ones, CNN reports.
“This hospital is ready to sustain quite a bit of damage, ready to sustain quite a bit of power outages... What we don't have is space and what we don't have are health care workers because of Covid,” the hospital’s chief medical officer, Katherine O’Neal, told CNN. “We have 619 people in-house today. We have 157 Covid patients, which is just unbelievable and still higher than we've ever seen in this pandemic before.”
‘We shouldn’t kid ourselves’: Biden holds press conference on ‘life-threatening’ hurricane
President Biden held a press conference on Sunday regarding Hurricane Ida, warning Americans to “take it seriously.”
“The storm is a life-threatening storm,” the president said. “And its devastation is likely to be immense. We shouldn’t kid ourselves. And so the most important thing I can say right now is that everyone, everyone should listen to the instructions from local and state officials, just how dangerous this is. And take it seriously.”
Louisiana governor asks residents to shelter in place for 72 hours after storm has passed
Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards has asked residents in Ida’s path to shelter in place not just for the storm’s duration, but for up to 72 hours afterward.
“Once the storm has passed, you need to be prepared to shelter in place for the first 72 hours,” Mr Edwards said at a press conference. “We have every possible resource ready to go to help you.”
The governor said even after the storm passes, going outside may still be dangerous due to downed power lines, debris, and other dangers.
Video shows furious winds in Houma, Louisiana
Shocking video footage shows powerful winds in Houma, Louisiana, not far from Port Fourchon, where Hurricane Ida made landfall. Ida’s winds have reached up to 150mph.
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