Hurricane Ida weakens as rescues begin and damage checked in Louisiana

NEW ORLEANS — Hurricane Ida became a tropical tempest arsenic its apical winds slowed implicit Mississippi connected Monday, portion crossed southeast Louisiana residents waited for daylight to beryllium rescued from floodwaters and spot however overmuch harm was caused by 1 of the astir almighty hurricanes ever to onslaught the U.S. mainland.

All of New Orleans mislaid powerfulness close astir sunset Sunday, starring to an uneasy nighttime of pouring rainfall and howling winds. The upwind died down soon earlier dawn and radical began cautiously walking astir neighborhoods with flashlights, dodging downed airy poles, pieces of roofs and branches.

Levees failed oregon were overtopped successful the maze of rivers and bayous southbound of New Orleans, threatening hundreds of homes. On societal media, radical posted their addresses and locations — directing hunt and rescue teams to their attics oregon rooftops.

Officials promised to commencement the monolithic rescue effort arsenic the upwind broke and the prima rose.

The torrential rains mostly moved into Mississippi connected Monday arsenic the tempest dilatory moved north. Destructive winds and h2o already had a catastrophic interaction on the southeast seashore of Louisiana, and life-threatening stream flooding continued good inland, the National Hurricane Center said.

Ida made landfall connected the aforesaid time 16 years earlier that Hurricane Katrina ravaged Louisiana and Mississippi, and its 150 mph (230 kph) winds tied it for the fifth-strongest hurricane to ever deed the mainland. It was already blamed for 1 death, idiosyncratic deed by a falling histrion successful Prairieville, extracurricular Baton Rouge, deputies with the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office confirmed connected Sunday.

More than a cardinal customers successful Louisiana and Mississippi were without powerfulness according to PowerOutage.US, which tracks outages nationwide, expanding their vulnerability to flooding and leaving them without aerial conditioning and refrigeration successful sweltering summertime heat.

Entergy confirmed that the lone powerfulness successful New Orleans was coming from generators, the city’s Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness tweeted, citing “catastrophic transmission damage.” The metropolis relies connected Entergy for backup powerfulness for the pumps that nonstop tempest h2o implicit the city’s levees. The strategy is much-improved since Katrina, but Ida is posing its biggest trial since that disaster.

The 911 strategy successful Orleans Parish besides experienced method difficulties aboriginal Monday. Anyone needing exigency assistance was urged to spell to their nearest occurrence presumption oregon attack their nearest officer, the New Orleans Emergency Communications Center tweeted.

Steve Helber, The Associated Press

An abandoned conveyance is fractional submerged successful a ditch adjacent to a adjacent flooded road arsenic the outer bands of Hurricane Ida get Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021, successful Bay Saint Louis, Miss.

Ida yet became a tropical tempest again 16 hours aft making landfall successful Louisiana arsenic a Category 4 hurricane. Its apical sustained upwind were 60 mph (97 kph) aboriginal Monday, and forecasters said it would rapidly weaken portion inactive dumping torrential rainfall implicit a ample area. The tempest was centered astir 95 miles (155 kilometers) south-southwest of Jackson, Mississippi, moving northbound astatine 8 mph (13 kmh).

The rising water swamped the obstruction land of Grand Isle and roofs connected buildings astir Port Fourchon blew disconnected arsenic Ida made landfall. The hurricane past churned done the acold confederate Louisiana wetlands, swirled implicit the state’s petrochemical corridor and threatened the much than 2 cardinal radical surviving successful and astir New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

Officials said Ida intensified into an highly almighty hurricane excessively rapidly implicit the Gulf of Mexico to signifier a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans’ 390,000 residents. Many didn’t person capable state and edifice money, proscription oregon different resources needed to flee. Hospitals besides had nary prime but to hunker down, counting connected generators to support COVID-19 patients alive.

In Baton Rouge, 27-year-old Robert Owens watched the entity successful his vicinity airy up arsenic transformers blew up each astir him.

“Never successful my beingness person I encountered thing this major,” helium said arsenic elephantine gusts rattled his home’s windows.

Significant flooding was reported precocious Sunday nighttime successful LaPlace adjacent Lake Pontchartrain and successful places similar Lafitte, wherever a barge struck a swinging span successful town.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said rescue crews would not beryllium capable to instantly assistance those who were stranded arsenic the tempest raged. And helium warned his authorities to brace for perchance weeks of recovery.

“Many, galore radical are going to beryllium tested successful ways that we tin lone ideate today,” the politician told a quality league Sunday.

But helium added, “There is ever airy aft darkness, and I tin guarantee you we are going to get done this.”

In New Orleans, upwind tore astatine awnings and caused buildings to sway and h2o to spill retired of Lake Pontchartrain. The Coast Guard bureau determination received much than a twelve reports of breakaway barges, said Petty Officer Gabriel Wisdom.

Ida pushed truthful overmuch h2o from the Gulf inland that engineers detected a “negative flow” connected the Mississippi River arsenic a effect of tempest surge, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesperson Ricky Boyette said,

Ida was churning successful 1 of the nation’s astir important concern corridors — location to a ample fig of petrochemical sites.

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality was successful interaction with much than 1,500 lipid refineries, chemic plants and different delicate facilities and volition respond to immoderate reported contamination leaks oregon petroleum spills, bureau spokesperson Greg Langley said.

Comparisons to the Aug. 29, 2005, landfall of Katrina weighed heavy connected residents. Katrina was blamed for 1,800 deaths arsenic it caused levee breaches and catastrophic flooding successful New Orleans. Now facing Ida much than a decennary and a fractional later, officials emphasized that the city’s levee strategy has been massively improved.

Monday would apt uncover if that was the case.

Associated Press writers Emily Wagster Pettus successful Jackson, Mississippi; Seth Borenstein successful Kensington, Maryland; Michael Biesecker successful Washington; and Sudhin Thanawala successful Atlanta contributed to this report.