Hurricane Ida made landfall in Cuba on Friday (Saturday NZ time) and threatened to slam into Louisiana with devastating intensity over the weekend, forcing residents of New Orleans and the surrounding coastal region to evacuate.
As it passed into western Cuba on Friday, Ida rapidly strengthened from a tropical storm to a hurricane with maximum speeds of 80 mph (128 km/h). It is expected to grow into a Category 4 hurricane with top winds of 140 mph (225 km/h) before reaching landfall over the US Gulf Coast late Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Centre.
During a Friday news conference with Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, National Weather Service meteorologist Benjamin Schott remarked, "This will be a life-altering storm for those who aren't prepared."
“By nightfall tomorrow night, you need to be where you intend to be to ride out the storm,” the governor said, urging locals to prepare promptly.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell of New Orleans has ordered a mandatory evacuation of a tiny section of the city outside the levee system. However, she stated that due to the storm's rapid intensification, she was unable to do so for the entire city. To leave the city, usually necessitates using all lanes of several motorways.
Cantrell stated, "The city cannot order a mandatory evacuation because we do not have the time."
Citizens should be prepared for protracted power disruptions, according to city officials, who also advised senior residents to consider fleeing. According to Collin Arnold, the city's emergency management director, the city might be subjected to severe winds for up to 10 hours.
Other coastal districts were subjected to a mix of voluntary and obligatory evacuations. The hurricane is projected to make landfall on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated a significant area of the Gulf Coast. Capt. Ross Eichorn, a fishing guide on the shore about 70 miles (112 kilometers) southwest of New Orleans, is concerned that the warm Gulf waters may turn Ida into a "monster."
“There's no telling what's going to be left – if anything – with a direct hit,” Eichorn warned. “Anyone who isn't concerned has something wrong with them,” he continued.
From Intracoastal City to the mouth of the Pearl River, a hurricane warning has been issued for the majority of the Louisiana coast. The Mississippi-Alabama border has been under a tropical storm warning.
Hospitals in New Orleans will not be evacuated, according to officials. According to Dr. Jennifer Avengo, the city's health director, there's little place for their patients elsewhere, with hospitals from Texas to Florida already dealing with a surge of coronavirus cases.
Officials at Ochsner Health System, the state's largest hospital system, have purchased 10 days' worth of gasoline, food, medications, and other supplies, as well as backup fuel contracts for its generators. One bright spot was that the number of Covid-19 patients had reduced by 15% in the last week, from 988 to 836.
Prior to the storm, President Joe Biden issued a federal emergency declaration for Louisiana. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) plans to send about 150 medical workers and nearly 50 ambulances to the Gulf Coast to assist overburdened hospitals, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
Ida made an impact in Cuba's southern Isle of Youth on Friday afternoon. The Cuban government issued a hurricane warning for the country's western provinces, saying that up to 20 inches (50 cm) of rain might fall in some areas, causing devastating flash floods and mudslides.
The hurricane center stated that an even greater threat will emerge over the Gulf, where projections agree that Ida will rapidly build into a major hurricane before making landfall in the Mississippi River delta late Sunday.
If the forecast is correct, Ida will arrive 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane with 125 mph (201 km/h) winds at Buras, Louisiana, just down the Mississippi River from New Orleans.
From the central Louisiana coast to the Mississippi-Alabama state border, Katrina is blamed for an estimated 1800 deaths. A powerful storm surge ravaged the coastline, obliterating homes. Federal levee failures in New Orleans resulted in catastrophic floods. 80 percent of the city was flooded, and many residences were flooded to the roofs. Some of the victims were found drowned in their attics. As tens of thousands were stuck without power or running water, the Superdome and New Orleans Convention Centre became sites of searing suffering.
Many people remembered Katrina as they rushed to prepare for Ida on Friday, lined up for groceries, petrol, and ice, as well as sandbags provided by the city.
Hundreds of cars were held up at the gas pumps at a Costco in New Orleans, as consumers pushed out carts packed with boxes of bottled water and other necessities.
Wondell Smith, a retired police officer who was on the force when Katrina hit, said he and his family planned to stay, but were also preparing to move further inland if the forecasts deteriorated. He packed his SUV with water, bread, and sandwich meat.
Smith said, referring to the potential catastrophe, "I know what that looks like." “In 34 years of service, this is the first time I've been home,” he continued. “I also want to be ready.”
The Arizona Cardinals' preseason game against the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome has first pushed ahead seven hours to escape the weather, then canceled entirely.
The hurricane center predicted that the peak storm surge along the Louisiana coast could reach 10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.5 meters), with a surge of seven to eleven feet (2.1 to 3.4 meters) in the New Orleans area. The storm's path placed New Orleans on the eastern side, sometimes known as the "dirty side," which typically experiences far more severe consequences than the western side.
“Being east of the storm's path isn't ideal,” Arnold explained.
