Tropical Storm Ida was downgraded from a hurricane overnight Sunday and was one of the most powerful hurricanes to ever make landfall in the mainland U.S.
The storm knocked out power for New Orleans and is reportedly responsible for at least one death. We’re tracking Ida as it moves through the U.S. South on Monday.
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Hurricane Ida traps Louisianans, leaves the grid a shambles
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – A fearsome Hurricane Ida left scores of coastal Louisiana residents trapped by floodwaters and pleading to be rescued Monday while making a shambles of the electrical grid across a wide swath of the state in the sweltering, late-summer heat.
One of the most powerful hurricanes ever to hit the U.S. mainland weakened into a tropical storm overnight as it pushed inland over Mississippi with torrential rain and shrieking winds, its danger far from over.
Ida was blamed for at least one death — someone hit by a falling tree outside Baton Rouge — but the full extent of its fury was still coming into focus at daybreak.
All of New Orleans lost power right around sunset Sunday as the hurricane blew ashore on the 16th anniversary of Katrina, leading to an uneasy night of pouring rain and howling wind. The weather died down shortly before dawn, and people began carefully walking around neighborhoods with flashlights, dodging downed light poles, pieces of roofs and branches.
The flooding from the rain and surge in the maze of rivers and bayous south of New Orleans threatened hundreds of homes. On social media, people posted their addresses and directed search and rescue teams to their attics or rooftops.
More than a million customers in Louisiana and Mississippi were without power, according to PowerOutage.US, which tracks outages nationwide, increasing their vulnerability to flooding and leaving them without air conditioning and refrigeration.
Entergy said the only power in New Orleans was coming from generators, the city’s emergency office tweeted, citing “catastrophic transmission damage.” The city relies on Entergy for backup power for its stormwater pumps. New Orleans’ levees underwent major improvements after Katrina, but Ida posed its biggest test since that disaster.