One dead as Hurricane Ida rages through Louisiana

The category four hurricane is expected to be one of the most devastating storms since Katrina ravaged the New Orleans coastline in 2005.

The Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook that deputies responded to a home in Louisiana’s capital city on a report of someone injured by a fallen tree. The person has since been pronounced dead.

Hurricane Ida has left 750,000 homes in New Orleans without power as it continues to intensify.

President Biden says that he expects “life-threatening” destruction.

The hurricane officially made landfall in the US state of Louisiana earlier today with 240km/h wind gusts and record rainfall.

Thousands of people have already fled the state, with authorities now warning that it is too late to leave.

The National Hurricane Centre (NHC) expects the category four hurricane to be one of the most powerful storms within the last century.

“Catastrophic wind damage will occur near the core of Ida as it moves inland over southeastern Louisiana during the next few hours,” the NHC warns.

“These winds will likely lead to widespread tree damage and power outages.” 

On Sunday, Louisiana saw sustained winds of 150mph.

Despite slowing down and seeing a drop in wind gusts throughout the day, widespread damage occurred along the coast.

More than 400,000 homes were left without power by mid-afternoon and roofs, trees and even ferries were left with little chance, blowing away in the strong wind gusts. 

Hurricane Ida also turned the mighty Mississippi River on its head quite literally, with the river seen temporarily flowing from south to north.

Major concerns for medical facilities

There are major concerns growing for medical facilities.

It’s expected that hundreds of victims will require medical attention from hospitals already overrun with COVID patients. 

There is also extensive roof damage to Lady of the Sea General Hospital in Lafourche Parish close to where Ida made landfall. 

“Once again we find ourselves dealing with a natural disaster in the midst of a pandemic,” says Jennifer Avegno, the top health official for New Orleans.

Louisiana governor, John Bell Edwards, says Ida is close to following in the footsteps of powerful storm, Hurricane Katrina. 

“This is not the kind of storm that we normally get,” he told the Associated Press. 

“This is going to be much stronger than we usually see and, quite frankly, if you had to draw up the worst possible path for a hurricane in Louisiana, it would be something very, very close to what we’re seeing.”

16 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Ida comes 16 years to the day following the devastation of Katrina which tore up the coasts of Mississippi and Louisiana in 2005. 

The category three storm killed 1800 people with repercussions from the storm lasting several years.

Written by Rebecca Borg