Hurricane Ida death toll will ‘go up considerably,’ Louisiana governor warns
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards warns Hurricane Ida death toll will ‘go up considerably’ with door-to-door searches now underway as 1 million remain without power and families remain trapped in alligator-infested waters
At least one person is dead – a 60 year-old man who died when a tree fell on his home – but Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards warned Monday that he expects the total dead to ‘go up considerably’ More than 1 million people were without power through Louisiana and Mississippi on Monday, with 144,000 homes in the Big Easy reporting power failuresEnergy officials said they were working to restore power in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida but warned ‘it will likely take days to determine the extent of damage to our power grid’Some locals in the town of Lafitte – which has been destroyed by floodwaters – are currently trapped in their attics, with local mayor Cynthia Lee Sheng warning: ‘There’s alligators out there’ The Category Four hurricane flooded much of New Orleans, overpowering the levees which were strengthened after Hurricane Katrina hit the area on the same date 16 years agoThe only power coming into the city was from generators, sparking fears people could poison themselves with carbon monoxideMeanwhile the storm was weakened to a tropical storm as it passed over Mississippi on Monday. Flood warnings are in place for Mississippi, with Tennessee, and Kentucky Ida will make its way north east through the week, and will weaken further by the time it reaches New England on ThursdayBut locals are worried about the prospect of another three inches of rain just a week after soils were saturated by Storm Henri
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards has warned the death toll from Hurricane Ida – which currently stands at one person – will ‘go up considerably’.
Speaking on MSNBC on Monday, Bel Edwards warned of bad news as search and rescue efforts continued in the wake of Sunday’s Category 4 hurricane.
He said: ‘I don’t want to mislead anyone. Robust search and rescue is happening right now and I fully expect that that death count will go up considerably throughout the day.’
The one person confirmed to have died so far is a 60 year-old man, who has not been named, killed after a tree fell on his home in Prairieville, Louisiana, on Sunday.
And Cynthia Lee Cheng – mayor of Jefferson Parish – outlined the horror faced by some of her neighbors currently trapped in attics in the trashed town of Lafitte.
She said: ‘This is an area if you want to think of it like swampland, there’s alligators out there.’
Bel Edwards spoke after Ida left more than 1 million people without power through Louisiana and Mississippi as it dumped torrential rain on the area, flooding much of New Orleans before being downgraded to a tropical storm Monday.
All of New Orleans lost power around sunset on Sunday, leaving people without refrigeration and air conditioning in the hot summer weather, as they used flashlights to search through the damage as the storm passed by around dawn.
Figures from power supplier Entergy confirmed that 144,000 homes were without power in the Big Easy. A further 195,000 are without power in nearby Jefferson Parish, while 80,000 are without power in St Tamany Parish.
Search and rescue operations began at around 3 a.m., with the Louisiana National Guard going door to door to check on residents, many of whom are still stuck on the second-floor or the attics of their homes.
In an interview with MSNBC on Monday, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said he expects the death toll from Hurricane Ida to rise throughout the day, as search and rescue operations continue
“We have one confirmed death but I don’t want to mislead anyone. Robust search and rescue is happening right now and I fully expect that death count will go up considerably throughout the day,” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards says on Hurricane Ida damage. pic.twitter.com/O5wpB6eScT
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 30, 2021
A total of 950,000 homes have lost power across Louisiana as of Monday morning, with another 100,000 without electricity in Mississippi as the 911 system in Orleans Parish experienced technical difficulties for a second day in a row.
Ida is now set to move across Mississippi – sparking flood warnings for that state though Tuesday.
The weather event will cross the north east tip of Alabama and into Tennessee in the early hours of Tuesday, with locals warned to prepare for flash floods caused by heavy rain, and winds of up to 60mph.
The outage in New Orleans was caused by a tower toppled by Ida, with energy suppliers warning that power will be off indefinitely while damage assessments are carried out – and that locals could face weeks before it returns.
Entergy confirmed the only power in New Orleans was coming from generators, the city’s Office of Homeland Security and Energy Preparedness tweeted, citing ‘catastrophic transmission damage.’ The city relies on Entergy for backup power for the pumps for the levees.
That has sparked fears locals could poison themselves by attempting to use the generators – which emit dangerous carbon monoxide – in poorly ventilated indoor areas.
Montegut fire chief Toby Henry walks back to his fire truck in the rain as firefighters cut through trees on the road in Bourg, Louisiana as Hurricane Ida passed over the town on Sunday
Police used flashlights early Monday to look through debris after a building collapsed from the effects of Hurricane Ida
Greg Nazarko, manager of the Bourbon Bandstand bar on Bourbon Street, stands outside the club, where he rode out the storm, which left New Orleans without power on Monday
A police officer patrols past woman walking along Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. Anyone in need of emergency help was asked to go to their local patrol officer or go to their nearest fire station
Downtown buildings were lit up by backup generators as nearly 1 million people remained without power
Now a tropical storm, Ida is expected to make its way through the Mid-South, Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast in the coming days, dropping three to six inches of rain along its way
Figures from power supplier EntEnergy confirmed that 144,000 homes were without power in the Big Easy. A further 195,000 are without power in nearby Jefferson Parish, while 80,000 are without power in St Tamany Parish
The Category Four storm caused all eight transmission lines into New Orleans to go down, and created a load imbalance that knocked all power generation into the region offline, Entergy spokesman Brandon Scardigli said in a statement to Nola.com.
He said the company is working to ‘assess a path forward to restore power to those who can take it.’
Additionally, officials in Jefferson Parish said a transmission tower that provides electricity for New Orleans and the east bank of the parish collapsed into the river.
The parish’s Emergency Management Director told WVUE that cables that once hung across the Mississippi River were now buried under water.
Entergy officials tweeted on Monday that ‘it will likely take days to determine the extent of damage to our power grid’ and ‘far longer to restore electrical transmission in the region.’
The outage in New Orleans was caused by a tower toppled by Ida, with energy suppliers warning that power will be off indefinitely while damage assessments are carried out
Louisiana state troopers have been urging residents to shelter in place and avoid sight seeing as Hurricane Ida raged across the state on Sunday, as reported by CNN. Above, streets in New Orleans were flooded in the storm’s wake
A second floor balcony window in the French Quarter was blown out in the storm, leaving the building exposed during the storm as it approached Mississippi on Monday
The city was hit by Hurricane Ida, a Category 4 storm, late Sunday night
A worker removed the barriers on the road that were blown over by the wind on Canal Street in New Orleans
Members of the Louisiana National Guard stood outside their vehicles on North Rampart Street, in the French Quarter, to help in Hurricane Ida recovery efforts on Monday
The Louisiana National Guard sent in nearly 5,000 guardsmen for the rescue efforts. One of the guardsmen was seen lining up vehicles on North Rampart Street in New Orleans Monday morning
Meanwhile, the levees – which had been upgraded since Hurricane Katrina devastated the area exactly 16 years ago – once again failed or were overtopped, leaving houses flooded with saturated sail turning parts of the city into a phenomenon known as brown ocean.
It pushed so much water from the gulf inland that engineers detected a ‘negative flow’ on the Mississippi River, Army Corps of Engineers Spokesman Ricky Boyette said.
There were four flash flood emergencies in place through parts of southeastern Louisiana. CNN reported, with between eight to 16 inches of rain in LaPlace, as local law enforcement reported flash flooding in Lafitte and Jean Lafitte.
Stream gauge reports continued to show rapid rises near the stream, and a flash flood emergency for Alliance continued Monday orning due to levee failure near Highway 23.
The National Weather Service warned these are extremely dangerous and life-threatening situations.
‘Do not attempt to travel unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding or under an evacuation order.’
The levees – which were strengthened after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 – failed and were overrun
A piece of Cafe Du Monde is wrapped in a tree in the French Quarter due to Hurricane Ida in New Orleans
A blown down sign lies on the street along Bourbon Street in the French Quarter
The storm left the Buddy Bolden mural on the wall of The Little Gem Saloon in tatters
Anyone needing emergency help was urged to go to their nearest fire station or approach their nearest officer.
Some people also took to social media to post their addresses and locations, asking for help, with officials promising rescue efforts would begin in the early morning hours of Monday, as it moved into Mississippi.
In a Sunday news conference, Louisiana Governor Edwards said rescue crews would not be able to immediately help those who were stranded, and warned the state could see weeks of recovery.
‘Many, many people are going to be tested in ways that we can only imagine today,’ he said, but added: ‘There is always light after darkness, and I can assure you we are going to get through this.’
The Louisiana National Guard sent in nearly 5,000 guardsmen, staged 195 high-water vehicles, 73 rescue boats and 34 helicopters ready to assist in the recovery efforts, it tweeted last night, with guardsmen beginning search and rescue missions in LaPlace this morning.
The Karofsky shop suffered severe damage after Hurricane Ida pummeled New Orleans with strong winds
Rubble was seen in the aftermath of the storm, as Governor John Bel Edwards warned recovery efforts could take weeks
Energy power crews worked to restore power to New Orleans on Monday after the storm passed
Rescue operations began around 3 a.m. Monday, the governor said in his interview with MSNBC, with 900 search and rescue personnel from 16 different states assisting with the efforts as some residents continue to shelter on the second-floors of their homes or in their attics.
Matthew Marchetti, a spokesman for Houston-based nonprofit Crowdsource Rescue, said the group had rescued about 150 people out of the 1,000 reports it received in Louisiana.
The group currently has three teams operating in LaPlace and are en route to Lafitte in hopes of assisting rescue efforts there. But, he told CNN, that is going to be difficult.
‘Lafitte is a bit of a technical challenge,’ he said, calling it a ‘long boat ride because of road issues.’
Crews Monday morning assessed the damage from the storm.
‘Unfortunately, the worst case scenario seems to have happened,’ Louisiana’s Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee said, adding that some houses are flooded with water that’s ‘beyond chest high. It’s up to the top of the roof.’
The weather conditions and power outages made it tough for teams to work overnight.
‘This is an area that has a lot of swampland, alligators, very dangerous conditions. They had to wait for the sun to come up this morning. They had a strategy,’ Lee explained to CNN. ‘We have people out there ready to clear roads. We’re going to have boats, high-water vehicles. Our first responders are ready to go. They just needed the daylight to be able to do their best work.’
She called for a mandatory curfew for all of the parish from 6 a.m. Monday through at least 6 a.m. Tuesday. All residents are urged to stay off the roads during this time.
The storm slammed the barrier island of Grand Isle and blew off the roofs of buildings around Port Fourchon as it made landfall early Sunday morning and churned its way through the southern Louisiana wetlands, over the state’s petrochemical corridor, threatening more than 2 million people living in and around New Orleans and Baton Rouge on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
Many did not have enough money or resources to flee from the fast-approaching storm.
By late Sunday, significant flooding was reported in LaPlace and in places like LaFitte, where a barge struck a swinging bridge.
And on Monday, LaFourche Parish officials said re-entry into the area will be delayed for up to a week ‘due to conditions created by Hurricane Ida,’ saying in a news release: ‘LaFourche Parish roads are currently unpassable and will be for some time.’
Officials said first responders will be ‘working around the clock to clear the roads for residents to return,’ as a curfew remains in affect.
The area is also under a boil water advisory, the officials said, with many residents completely without water.
The United States Coast Guard office in the region received more than a dozen reports of breakaway barges, Petty Officer Gabriel Wisdom told the Associated Press.
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality was also in contact with more than 1,500 oil refineries, chemical plants and other petrochemical plants, and will respond to any reported pollution leaks or petroleum spills, agency spokesman Greg Langley said.
Ida hit New Orleans on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina
The storm’s top wind speed on Monday was 60 mph, and forecasters expect it will weaken drastically as it dumps rain on Mississippi.
It was centered about 65 miles south-southwest of Jackson, Mississippi this morning, heading north at 8 mph with sustained winds of 45 mph.
It is expected to bring strong winds throughout the day, which could knock out the power for even more residents.
A tornado risk will also continue to the east of the center of circulation, according to FOX News, and heavy rain is going to be the biggest concern as the remnants move into the Mid-South, Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast in the coming days.
Three to six inches of rain is expected along Ida’s path, including through southern New England, where the ground is already saturated from Tropical Storm Henri one week ago.
