Hurricane Ida Slams Louisiana, Causes Widespread Damage And Power Outages

Hurricane Ida battered Louisiana as a category 4 hurricane when it made landfall on Sunday, before weakening to a category 3 hurricane later on in the evening.

The massive hurricane caused widespread power outages and led to large numbers of people fleeing the area for shelter while others stayed in place and braced for impact.

“Ida’s eye came ashore late Sunday morning near Port Fourchon, La., with maximum sustained winds of 150 miles an hour, just shy of the 157 m.p.h. winds of a Category 5 storm,” The New York Times reported. “Storm waters are expected to strain the levees and pumps and other hurricane defenses that were reinforced around New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.”

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, said during a press conference on Sunday evening that there was “no doubt that the coming days and weeks are going to be extremely difficult for our state and many, many people are going to be tested in ways that we can only imagine.”

The hurricane hit as the state has had to deal with one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the nation over the last several weeks.

Edwards said in a major disastrous declaration that the hurricane was “one of the strongest storms to ever hit Louisiana.”

We’ve observed hurricanes packing their punch well inland but typically they’re zipping along. The heat content of brackish water must be extreme, and it makes sense. Those bogs fester at 95°F+ and hotter in the sun on a given summer day. pic.twitter.com/PCk5R94JGv

— Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) August 29, 2021

“More than 814,000 homes and businesses were without power in Louisiana as of about 7 p.m. CDT,” The Weather Channel reported. “Entergy, the state’s largest utility provider, said that number included every customer in New Orleans. The outages reflect only individual accounts – not the number of people actually in the dark.”

Scenes from the area included:

SOUND OF FURY: Powerful winds and sheets of rain brought by Hurricane Ida lash a dock in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, as the extremely dangerous Category 4 storm continues to move inland.

LIVE UPDATES: https://t.co/S1Phqc9Gta pic.twitter.com/OsbrFFK2NM

— ABC News (@ABC) August 29, 2021

Pretty extensive damage in LaFourche Parish. Some areas have almost every home damaged. These apartments are in Lockport. #HurricaneIda #lawx pic.twitter.com/ZNFZ28wD90

— Brian Emfinger (@brianemfinger) August 30, 2021

Low-lying areas in Hancock County, MS are underwater after Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana.

Mississippi might not be directly impacted by the storm but surges, winds and rain will bring a lot of damage to the area.@WLOX pic.twitter.com/sbWKxDTUrb

— Andrés Fuentes (@news_fuentes) August 29, 2021

Here’s an incredible view from the cockpit, as Hurricane Hunters fly through the rough eye wall of Hurricane Ida, and enter the relatively calm conditions within the eye of the hurricane. #HurricaneIda pic.twitter.com/82LS6h6dG7

— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) August 30, 2021

FLOODING in NOLA: Look at this in Venetian Isles in @CityOfNOLA. This is one area in New Orleans under a *mandatory* evacuation. Venetian Isles, Lake Catherine & Irish Bayou; areas outside the levee protection system. Water is almost up to the stop sign 🥺 @wdsu #HurricaneIda pic.twitter.com/RQ8uMwpWRJ

— Christina Watkins (@CWatkinsWDSU) August 29, 2021

Footage from Louisiana shows areas before and after they were hit by Hurricane Ida. pic.twitter.com/fb3PB4W03a

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) August 29, 2021

Currently in Kenner… #HurricaneIda @BrookeLaizer_Wx @HankAllenWX @WGNOtv pic.twitter.com/bajk5TxPAx

— Jori Parys (@JoriParys) August 30, 2021

This is a developing news story, refresh the page for updates.

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