IDA’S REMAINS COME STORMING IN
CITY GIRDS FOR HEAVY RAINS AND FLOODING FROM FORMER HURRICANE
Two people were killed and at least another 10 were injured after parts of a major Mississippi roadway were washed away by heavy rain from Hurricane Ida, officials said Tuesday.
The massive storm wiped out a section of the two-lane Highway 26 in George County, Highway Patrol Cpl. Cal Robertson said. When first responders arrived at the stretch of road in Lucedale, a city about 60 miles northeast of Biloxi, they were stunned to see both the east and westbound lanes were gone.
In all, seven vehicles, including a motorcycle, were pulled by crane from a hole about 50 feet wide and 20 feet deep. Robertson speculated some of the drivers likely did not realize the road in front of them had disappeared and unexpectedly plunged into the opening.
“Some of these cars are stacked on top of each other,” he explained. “I’ve never seen anything in my 23 years in law enforcement like this.”
Officials said the highway likely collapsed around 10 p.m. on Monday.
Between 3,100 and 5,700 vehicles drive along the stretch of highway on an average day, according to Mississippi Department of Transportation data.
The region surrounding the roadway experienced 8 inches of rain since the weekend.
That brought the total number of deaths attributed to the Category 4 storm to four. Hundreds of other people had to be plucked from attics and roofs. Louisiana National Guardsmen “rescued 359 citizens and 55 pets either by high-water vehicles, by boats or by air during the aftermath from Hurricane Ida,” the Guard tweeted Tuesday afternoon.
Hurricane Ida was one of the most powerful storm’s to ever hit the U.S. mainland. It knocked out power to much of southeastern Louisiana, including all of New Orleans, and southern Mississippi. Roofs were ripped from buildings, and the flow of the Mississippi River was reversed.
Rural cities and towns bore the brunt of the hurricane’s floodwaters as shored-up levees around New Orleans held fast. In Lafourche Parish, where the storm first came ashore, damage was still being assessed. The United Houma Nation, a Native American community on the Louisiana coast, said it had been hit hard.
“It’s been a long day, and we have some heavy hearts,” the Houma Nation said on Facebook. “The damage in our tribal communities is overwhelming, and we do not yet have a full grasp on the impacts. We pray for everyone to find peace and calm in a safe place soon.”
Tribal Chief August Creppel told Native News Online that the tribe had “suffered deaths and injuries” but did not yet have a count.
As the region’s residents sweltered in heat without air conditioning, it was unclear when electricity, tap water and gasoline would be available. Officials said it could be weeks before the lights came back on, even with 25,000 utility workers on the job.
New Orleans Council President Helena Moreno tweeted that some electricity might return to the city within 48 hours, with hospitals and other critical infrastructure getting priority.
Long lines that wrapped around the block formed at the few gas stations that had fuel and generator power to pump it. People cleared rotting food out of refrigerators. Neighbors shared generators and borrowed buckets of swimming pool water to bathe or flush toilets.
“We have a lot of work ahead of us, and no one is under the illusion that this is going to be a short process,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said as the cleanup and rebuilding began across the soggy, sweltering region.
Water treatment plants were overwhelmed by floodwaters or crippled by power outages, leading to drinking-water shortages for 441,000 in 17 parishes and boil-water advisories for another 319,000.
The storm’s remnants are expected to reach New York City on Wednesday.