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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Your support makes all the difference.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.
Ida to hit 'absolute worst place for a hurricane’
Meteorologist Jeff Masters, who flew hurricane missions for the government and founded Weather Underground, said Ida is forecast to move through “the just absolute worst place for a hurricane”.
The Interstate 10 corridor between New Orleans and Baton Rouge is a critical hub of the nation’s petrochemical industry, lined with oil refineries, natural gas terminals and chemical manufacturing plants.
A US Energy Department map of oil and gas infrastructure shows scores of low-lying sites in the storm’s projected path that are listed as potentially vulnerable to flooding.
A tropical storm warning has also been extended to the Alabama-Florida border.
National Weather Service says it ‘can’t bear’ to see Ida’s current path
As it tracks Hurricane Ida’s progress via satellite images, the National Weather Service New Orleans says it can’t bear what it’s seeing.
“As meteorologists at the National Weather Service Slidell office, we can't bear to see this on satellite,” the organization said in a tweet. “We have hard times ahead, but we will all persevere. Take all messages we, public officials and broadcast media are saying SERIOUSLY. Stay tuned for more frequent updates.”
Flooding has started in Mississippi, local reports say
Roads have already started getting flooded in Mississippi, according to local reports.
In one Twitter video, posted by McClatchy reporter Justin Mitchell, two cars can be seen driving through deep water on Highway 90 in Biloxi, Mississippi.
“Two cars have already gotten stuck at Hwy 90 and Miramar [in] Biloxi as water has already taken over the roadway,” Mr Mitchell tweeted. “Ida is powerful, major hurricane and approaching landfall.”
Ida may cause tornadoes, National Weather Service predicts
Hurricane Ida may cause tornadoes and supercells after it makes landfall, according to the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center.
“Hurricane Ida will make landfall later this morning in SE Louisiana, and continue moving northwestward and inland through the afternoon,” the Center said in a tweet. “The threat for supercells and a few tornadoes will increase today in the outer convective bands to the northeast and east of the center of Ida.”
Authorities tell New Orleans residents to ‘shelter in place immediately'
In a post retweeted by Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards, the National Weather Service has warned all New Orleans residents to shelter in place “immediately.”
“If you are not in shelter, shelter in place immediately,” National Weather Service New Orleans tweeted. “Go to an interior room or a small room with no windows. Stay put during this time.”
Ida will test New Orleans’ post-Katrina protections
After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, the city embarked on a massive public works project to protect itself from future storms. Hurricane Ida will test those protections.
In the past 16 years, the federal government has spent $14.5 billion on building levees, pumps, seawalls, floodgates, and drainage in and around New Orleans. As Ida approaches, some experts think the city is ready.
“The post-Katrina system is so different than what was in place before,” US Army Corps of Engineers spokesperson Matt Roe has said.
Read more here.
EXPLAINER: Is New Orleans protected from a hurricane?
New Orleans closed massive flood gates ahead of storm
New Orleans on Saturday closed its extensive network of flood gates in preparation for Hurricane Ida. This included the gigantic Lake Borgne Surge Barrier, which can be seen from space.
Weather authorities predict ‘extremely life-threatening storm surge’ and ‘catastrophic wind damage’ from Ida
US weather authorities are predicting an “extremely life-threatening storm surge,” “catastrophic wind damage,” power outages, and “life-threatening flash and urban flooding” in Louisiana and Mississippi due to Hurricane Ida.
The dire warnings were announced by the National Hurricane Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Twitter.
Louisiana governor: ‘We’re as ready as we can be’
Governor John Bel Edwards says Louisiana is “as ready as we can be” for Hurricane Ida, but the storm will be “a very serious test” of the state’s levee’s systems.
“It’s going to be a very, very challenging storm for our state, and it comes at a very difficult time as well,” the governor told CNN, explaining that hospitals are already filled with Covid patients, making it difficult for them to take on new patients hurt in the storm.
Massive storm waves seen in Alabama
Startling video footage shows enormous waves breaking on the shores of Fort Morgan, Alabama.
US weather authorities had predicted that Alabama would be among the states affected by “life-threatening flash and urban flooding” from Hurricane Ida.
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