Hurricane Ida hits US: Demands first casualty, Biden declares disaster – Topky

Meanwhile, according to CNN, more than a million customers in the Mississippi and Louisiana states, including the entire city of New Orleans, were without electricity. According to CNN television, Tennessee authorities are advising residents to prepare for the elements when heavy rains and possible floods arrive with Ida. This could happen tonight and Tuesday.

Ida hit Louisiana on Sunday around noon local time as a hurricane of the second highest category on a five-point scale. It was accompanied by the wind at a speed of up to 240 kilometers per hour. It became the fifth strongest hurricane ever to hit the mainland, the AP agency noted. In the fourth category, Ida stayed above the mainland for about six hours, which, according to CNN, is relatively long. For example, last year’s Hurricane Laura, which also hit Louisiana, remained in the same category for three hours. Later, Ida weakened as she advanced further north, in the next few days she was to turn northeast.

First death

Due to the strong wind, more than a million customers in Louisiana and another 80,000 in the state of Mississippi were already without power. In Louisiana, authorities also reported the first death from a tree fall. A power outage in New Orleans has increased the city’s vulnerability to floods, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without air conditioning in the summer heat, the AP noted. According to her, two million people in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and their surroundings are at risk. Technical problems also affected the 911 emergency line in New Orleans. Authorities have advised anyone in need of urgent assistance to contact the nearest fire station. According to their spokesman Ricky Boytt, military engineers noted that the flow of the Mississippi River had turned under the onslaught of the elements.

Source: TASR / AP Photo / Gerald Herbert

“I’ve never experienced anything so big in my life,” said Twenty-seven-year-old Robert Owens, who was watching the sky lit by a transformer explosion in Baton Rouge as gusts of wind blew through the windows of his residence.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said rescuers would not be able to help everyone stuck in the storm immediately. And he warned residents that it could take weeks before the damage could be repaired. “But after dark it always comes light and I can be sure we’ll get through it,” he added.

Source: SITA / AP Photo / Steve Helber

A strong wind has destroyed two hospitals in the Lafourche Parish district of southern Louisiana, which also contain patients with covid-19. According to the AP agency, the storm in the hospital in the village of Cut Off in the south caused considerable damage, damaged the roof, but nothing happened to any of the patients or staff. In the same district, the main water pipeline is also damaged, so some sites are without water supply.

Stunning video taken from inside the eye of #Ida this morning by the NESDIS Ocean Winds Research team during a flight on the @NOAA_HurrHunter P3 aircraft @NOAASatellites pic.twitter.com/sjt970Yeiq

– National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) August 29, 2021

Source: TASR / AP Photo / Gerald Herbert

US President Joe Biden has declared a state of disaster in the affected areas, which will allow the authorities to draw on federal aid.

Exactly 16 years ago, Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana, claiming about 1,840 lives in the southeastern United States, most of them in Louisiana. Katrina severely damaged New Orleans and its environs. Local authorities now hope to prevent more damage from the flood defenses they built after Katrina.