- wording
- BBC News World
Updated August 30, 2021
image source, Archyde.com
At least two deaths, severe material damage, torrential rains and more than a million people without electricity is the initial toll of Hurricane Ida passing through the US, which was downgraded to a tropical storm following making landfall.
However, the authorities fear that the inspection of the damage during this Monday may offer a more accurate image of the impact.
“Daylight will bring horrific images as damage is assessed,” tweeted Shauna Sanford, director of communications for the Louisiana governor.
President Joe Biden had previously said that Ida would be “life-threatening” and the National Hurricane Center warned that heavy rains might still cause flooding in parts of the state.
However, local media report that this time New Orleans’ flood levees, strengthened following Hurricane Katrina killed 1,800 people in 2005, have so far worked.
Ida’s winds at landfall were plus intense what Katrina’s.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said the levees had “maintained for the most part,” though storm surge, rain and wind had a “devastating” impact across the state.
Ida makes landfall
Ida made landfall in the United States on Sunday followingnoon as a category 4 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 240 km / h, one of the largest storms to reach the south of the country.
His arrival coincided precisely con the anniversary of the passage of devastating Hurricane Katrina through New Orleans 16 years ago.
Wind speeds began to drop as the hurricane moved inland Monday morning.
After making landfall, the storm left slowing downmoving northwest at 16 km per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The fact that it slowed down when reaching the shore is not an exception, but a worrying trend that has been observed in recent decades.
image source, EPA
When this occurs, the storm causes much greater devastation, since the winds and rains hit a particular region for a longer time.
One person was killed when a tree fell on their home in Ascension Parish, in the Baton Rouge area.
image source, Getty Images
The storm caused severe damage in its wake.
Damage
Authorities estimate it will take weeks to restore electricity service.
Magen Cheramie, a resident of the state, captured the moment when the wind blew off part of the roof of the Lady of the Sea hospital.
image source, Magen Cheramie/Facebook
Ida’s strong winds blew the roof off a hospital in Louisiana.
Biden declared Louisiana a disaster area, freeing up additional resources for rescue and recovery efforts in the state.
Since Saturday, tens of thousands of Louisiana residents have fled as the hurricane neared their shores.
traffic jams Louisiana outbound freeways collapsedwhere residents in multiple areas received evacuation orders.
image source, Getty Images
In Bourg, Louisiana, there were intense storms with hurricane-force winds.
Fear in New Orleans
By Nada Tawfik of BBC News
It’s an eerie feeling being in New Orleans in the dark. In the famous French Quarter, debris and tree limbs are already littering the streets.
The rain beats down, while the winds of more than 110 km/h make it difficult to stand.
Most residents heeded warnings to hunker down until the worst of the storm passed. Talking to them, they tell you that hurricanes have become a part of their lives. It is the counterpart they accept for everything else the city has to offer.
Still, there is always the fear that the next storm will be “the big one.”
Kenneth McGruder has lived here for over 30 years. He evacuated for Hurricane Katrina and, like many others, returned to find his home under water. He is an older man who speaks openly regarding the trauma it caused him.
Ida grew stronger so quickly that the man felt that he did not have enough time to leave the house. He’s confident in the city’s new hurricane infrastructure, but once more, there’s always that fear.
image source, Archyde.com
The waters of the Mississippi River were very rough near New Orleans.
All flights to and from New Orleans this Sunday were canceled.
Gov. John Bel Edwards called on residents to stay safe.
“There is no doubt that the next few days and weeks are going to be extremely difficult for our state … but I can also tell you that as a state, we have never been more prepared,” the governor said Sunday.
The governor of the neighboring state of Mississippi, Tate Reeves, also declared a state of emergency.
Ida intensified over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, upgrading from a Category 2 storm to an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm within hours.
katrina anniversary
The causality is that the Sunday is fulfillediron 16 years following Hurricane Katrina that hit New Orleans as a category 3 hurricane.
Katrina flooded 80% of the city and caused more than 1,800 dead.
“I am absolutely devastated to think of those communities under mandatory evacuation orders,” Alessandra Jerolleman, an emergency management expert at Tulane University in New Orleans, told the BBC as she fled in her car.
More than 80 drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico have been evacuated and half of the region’s oil and gas production has been suspended.
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