Hurricane Ida devastated the town of Lafitte. /picture alliance, ASSOCIATED PRESS, David J Phillip
NEW ORLEANS – A day following making landfall, the “catastrophic” damage from Hurricane Ida in the US state of Louisiana has become visible.
Yesterday, in many places, people were still stuck in the rising floodwaters, and the streets had torn-off roofs from houses. The city of New Orleans was still almost completely without power 24 hours following “Ida” arrived. The number of victims increased to two.
Ida, meanwhile, was downgraded to a tropical storm as it moved further inland. On Sunday, Ida made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane, 16 years to the day following deadly storm Katrina.
“The biggest concern is that we’re still engaged in search operations,” said Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards NBC– Show “Today”. Meanwhile, many people in the southeastern state are doing “very poorly”.
Authorities confirmed two deaths following they reached communities cut off by the hurricane. One person was killed by a falling tree in Prairieville, northwest of New Orleans, authorities said. A second victim died trying to drive through floodwaters in New Orleans, the Louisiana Department of Health and Human Services tweeted.
Footage of people being rescued from flooded cars and images showing houses completely destroyed have appeared on online networks. Damage in New Orleans, on the other hand, was limited. “Ida” paralyzed the energy supply throughout the city on Sunday. More than a million homes across Louisiana were without power, according to website poweroutage.us.
In the town of Jean Lafitte, south of New Orleans, Mayor Tim Kerner said the rapidly rising water had flooded the 8-foot-tall levee. Several residents of LaPlace, up the river from New Orleans, posted pleas for help online. They are trapped by the rising tides. “The damage is truly catastrophic,” Edwards told Today. The storm brought “the predicted tidal wave, and the wind that was predicted, and the rain.”
US President Joe Biden declared Louisiana and Mississippi a state of emergency, giving states access to federal aid. According to experts, hurricanes are increasing in number and strength as a result of climate change and the associated warming of the sea surface. © afp/aerzteblatt.de
