Hurricane Ida floodwaters strand thousands, shut down power grid in Louisiana.
NEW ORLEANS — Rescuers set out in hundreds of boats and helicopters to reach people trapped by floodwaters Monday, and utility repair crews rushed in after a furious Hurricane Ida swamped the Louisiana coast and ravaged the electrical grid.
Residents living amid the maze of rivers and bayous along the state’s Gulf Coast retreated desperately to their attics or roofs and posted their addresses on social media with instructions for search-andrescue teams on where to find them. Rescuers aided at least 671 people by Monday afternoon, Gov. John Bel Edwards said.
More than 1 million customers in Louisiana and Mississippi — including all of New Orleans — were left without power as Ida, one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to hit the U.S. mainland, pushed through on Sunday and early Monday before weakening into a tropical storm.
The damage was so extensive that officials warned it could be weeks before the power grid is repaired.
The storm that packed 150mph winds was downgraded to a tropical depression by Monday afternoon. As it continued to make its way inland with torrential rain, it was blamed for two deaths — a motorist who drowned in New Orleans, and a person hit by a falling tree outside Baton Rouge.
But with many roads impassable and cell phone service knocked out in places, the full extent of its fury was still coming into focus. Christina Stephens, a spokesperson for Edwards, said that given the level of destruction, “We’re going to have many more confirmed fatalities.”
The governor’s office said damage to the power grid appeared “catastrophic” — dispiriting news for those left without refrigeration or air conditioning during the sweltering summer.
In hard-hit LaPlace, rescuers saved people from flooded homes in a near-constant operation.
Debbie Greco, her husband and her son rode out the storm in LaPlace with Greco’s parents. Four feet of water filled the home. They retreated to the second floor, but then screaming winds collapsed the roof.
They were finally rescued by boat after waiting in the only dry spot, five people sharing the landing on the stairs.
“I’m done with Louisiana,” said Greco’s father, Fred Carmouche, 85, a lifelong resident.
The hurricane blew ashore on the 16th anniversary of Katrina, the 2005 storm that breached New Orleans’ levees, devastated the city and was blamed for 1,800 deaths.
This time, New Orleans appeared to escape catastrophic flooding. And Edwards said Louisiana’s levees, heavily overhauled since Katrina, performed well. But he said the storm still inflicted “tremendous damage” to homes and businesses.