Hurricane swamps Louisiana’s coast
NEW ORLEANS: Rescue workers set out in hundreds of boats and helicopters to reach people trapped by floodwaters and utility crews mobilised on Monday after a furious Hurricane Ida swamped the Louisiana coast and shattered a large swath of the state’s electrical grid in the sweltering, late summer heat.
One of the most powerful hurricanes ever to hit the US 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 with many roads impassable and cellphone service knocked out in places, the full extent of its fury was still coming into focus.
The hurricane “came in and did everything that was advertised, unfortunately”, Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards said.
All of New Orleans lost power right around sunset on 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 neighbourhoods with flashlights, dodging downed light poles, pieces of roofs and branches.
Four Louisiana hospitals were damaged and 39 medical facilities were operating on generator power, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said.
It appeared that the levees that failed in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina held up during Ida, the governor said.