‘The damage is catastrophic’: Residents in LaPlace, Louisiana, share Ida’s impact
As Hurricane Ida battered Louisiana on Sunday night, Daryian Hudson made a desperate plea on Twitter.
"Please help me yall," she tweeted publicly at 11:07 p.m., along with the address of her grandparents, Evelina and Elliott Leblanc, whom, she said, were stuck in their attic in LaPlace, along the east bank of the Mississippi River. The couple are in their 70s and live with their puppy.
Hudson explained in a series of tweets from Houston, where she lives, that she and her family had contacted the Cajun Navy, volunteer boat owners who aid in disaster relief, but were told that because all of LaPlace was flooded, a team could not be sent to her grandparents until Monday morning.
Hurricane Ida victims could swamp Louisiana's already Covid-stretched hospitals
Louisiana’s battered hospitals were bracing for another challenge Monday in the wake of Hurricane Ida — an influx of new patients.
And with services already stretched to capacity by the Covid-19 crisis, the still unanswered question was where to put them.
Gov. John Bel Edwards told MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle that he is prioritizing “shoring up our hospitals so they can continue to serve all of their patients and the people who have been injured and haven't been able to get to the hospital yet because of something that happened during the storm.”
So far, Edwards said, there has been just one hurricane-related fatality but that number is likely to go up after the damage assessment gets underway.
Mississippi governor warns of tornadoes, excessive heat as Ida departs state
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said on Monday that tens of thousands of the state's residents are without power and a coastal highway is mostly closed as Ida continues to move over the state.
Reeves warned a heat advisory is likely for Tuesday and warned the 85,900 people still without power to be ready for sweltering conditions.
"It is going to be hot in Mississippi tomorrow," Reeves said.
There is also a high risk of tornadoes in the southeastern counties of Mississippi, Reeves said, and the threat would persist through the night.
"So far, damage estimates are relatively light — very light considering the magnitude of the storm," Reeves said.
2nd storm related death confirmed in Louisiana
The Louisiana Department of Health announced a second death as the result of Ida, saying on Monday that a man drowned in his car while trying to drive through floodwaters in New Orleans.
The first storm-related death was a 60-year-old man who died in Ascension Parish when a tree fell on his home.
4th Louisiana hospital being evacuated due to Ida damage
A fourth Louisiana hospital is being evacuated on Monday night due to power outrages and storm damage, officials said.
Patients from Terrebonne General Hospital are being moved, Gov. John Bel Edwards said, following in the foot steps of Chabert Medical Center in Houma, St. Anne Hospital in Raceland and Our Lady of the Sea General Hospital in Galliano.
The evacuations are "due to physical damage and to water and electric issues," Gov. Edwards said.
Map: Hurricane Ida, hour by hour
Hurricane Ida started Sunday in the Gulf of Mexico and ended its day carving a path north through Louisiana toward Mississippi.
In between, it reached sustained wind speeds of 150 mph, battered coastal and inland towns, and stayed powerful after landfall much longer than most hurricanes.
Video from Jefferson Parish government shows extensive flooding in Louisiana
Experts say Ida will have limited impact on gas prices
While energy analysts predict that drivers will see moderately higher gas prices in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Ida, the increases will pale in comparison to the spike that occurred in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on New Orleans and the surrounding areas.
Energy experts were hesitant to say for sure how much of an impact American drivers might face at the gas pump after Ida's landfall on Sunday, but early estimates suggested that the impact would be modest for most of the country.
After Hurricane Katrina, gas prices jumped roughly 45 cents in six days, according to the AAA. They began to fall after that, but it still took nearly two months before returning to pre-Katrina levels. “Gas prices can spike overnight, and then it just takes a while for them to come down,” said Jeanette Casselano, a AAA spokeswoman.
Based on the strength of Hurricane Ida, Casselano suggested that drivers could see elevated prices for a few weeks. “In the coming days, we’ll likely see the national average increase three to five cents,” she said.
Too soon to tell when power will be restored in New Orleans, utility CEO says
It could take days to determine how badly the New Orleans power grid was damaged by Hurricane Ida and even longer to restore power in some areas with thousands of homes and businesses now in the dark, as work crews begin the task of assessing damage across the region.
There were 888,000 power outages in New Orleans and the surrounding area Monday morning, Entergy New Orleans CEO Deanna Rodriguez said at a news conference Monday afternoon.
The utility company said in a statement earlier Monday that it "may take up to three days before we know how long until power will be restored" and "those in the hardest-hit areas could experience power outages for weeks."
About 200,000 New Orleans residents stayed in city during Hurricane Ida, mayor says
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell urged residents who have evacuated the city to stay where they are as officials begin the process of assessing the damage caused by Hurricane Ida.
"Now is not the time for re-entry," Cantrell said Monday at a news conference. “Today is going to be a day for assessments across the board. We are only at the beginning of that process."
"We will notify you as soon as possible when it's safe for you to come," the mayor added.
Cantrell said there are about 200,000 residents who stayed in the city. She did not have an exact number of evacuees but told reporters a "large amount" of people did leave the city.
Much of New Orleans remains without power. The mayor said one of the reasons they do not want people to come back yet is because of the lack of electricity available. She urged residents and businesses with generators to help out those in need.
"I'm calling all of our people and businesses that have the capacity in the city to be good neighbors as I know you will be," she said. "For the businesses that we know, or they know, have the capacity to provide some source of power to the community, we ask for you to notify the city and again be good neighbors."