Coastal Louisiana scrambled to prepare for the storm, expected to make landfall as a Category 4 hurricane.
NEW ORLEANS — Weather forecasters warned residents along Louisiana’s coast to rush preparations Saturday in anticipation of an intensifying Hurricane Ida, which is expected to bring winds as high as 140 mph when it slams ashore on Sunday.
Ida intensified rapidly Friday from a tropical storm to a hurricane with top winds of 80 mph as it crossed western Cuba. It’s expected to pick up steam as it goes over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Ida would be the latest test of the New Orleans’ aging street drainage system. In a statement Friday, the city outlined steps it was taking to ensure that pumps were working and power sources to those pumps were ready. But, the amount of rain could be enough to overwhelm even a fully functional system.
With the storm’s forward speed slowing down and the intensity picking up, the storm surge may overtop some levees that protect parts of New Orleans on the west bank of the Mississippi River, said Heath Jones, emergency manager, of the Army Corps of Engineers’ New Orleans District. However he said they are designed to be overtopped and have protections in place to prevent more damage.
A hurricane warning was issued for most of the Louisiana coast from Intracoastal City to the mouth of the Pearl River. A tropical storm warning was extended to the Mississippi-Alabama line. Ida made its first landfall Friday afternoon on Cuba’s southern Isle of Youth. The Cuban government issued a hurricane warning for its westernmost provinces, where forecasters said as much as 20 inches of rain could fall in places, possibly unleashing deadly flash floods and mudslides. Landfall in the U.S. is expected late Sunday in the Mississippi River delta region.
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Louisiana Braces For Major Hurricane As Tropical Storm Ida Strengthens On Path To Gulf CoastI am a London-based reporter for Forbes covering breaking news. Previously, I have worked as a reporter for a specialist legal publication covering big data and as a freelance journalist and policy analyst covering science, tech and health. I have a master’s degree in Biological Natural Sciences and a master’s degree in the History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Cambridge. Follow me on Twitter theroberthart or email me at rhartforbes.com
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New Orleans orders evacuations as Hurricane Ida closes in: Latest forecastWEATHER: On Saturday morning Ida crossed over western Cuba and entered the southern Gulf of Mexico, where it is expected to begin rapid intensification as it careens toward the Louisiana coast, according to the National Hurricane Center.
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Louisiana braces for 'life-altering' Hurricane IdaResidents across Louisiana's coast Saturday were taking one last day to prepare for what is being described as a “life-altering” Hurricane Ida which is expected to bring winds as high as 140 mph (225 kph) when it slams ashore. A combination of voluntary and mandatory evacuations have been called for cities and communities across the region including New Orleans, where the mayor ordered a mandatory evacuation for areas outside the city's levee system and a voluntary evacuation for residents inside the levee system.
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Louisiana braces for 'life-altering' Hurricane IdaNEW ORLEANS (AP) — Residents across Louisiana's coast Saturday were taking one last day to prepare for what is being described as a “life-altering” Hurricane Ida which is expected to bring winds as high as 140 mph (225 kph) when it slams ashore.
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