Hurricane Ida closing in on Louisiana
HURRICANE Ida was expected to hit the coast of Louisiana in the US yesterday, the same date Hurricane Katrina ravaged the same area 16 years ago.
The Category 4 hurricane has grown rapidly in strength, with top winds at 150mph and emergency officials in the region grappled with opening shelters for displaced evacuees despite the risks of spreading coronavirus.
The National Hurricane Centre said Ida is forecast to hit at 155mph, just 1mph short of a Category 5 hurricane.
Ida is threatening a region already reeling from a resurgence of Covid-19 infections, thanks to low vaccination rates and the highly contagious Delta variant.
New Orleans hospitals plan to ride out the storm with their beds nearly full, as similarly stressed hospitals elsewhere had little room for evacuated patients.
Shelters for those fleeing their homes carried an added risk of becoming flashpoints for new infections.
Governor John Bel Edwards vowed on Saturday that Louisiana’s “resilient and tough people” would weather the storm. He also noted shelters would operate with reduced capacities “to reflect the realities of Covid”.
He said Louisiana officials are already working to find hotel rooms for many evacuees so fewer have to stay in mass shelters.
He noted that during last year’s hurricane season, Louisiana found rooms for 20,000 people.
“So we know how to do this,” Mr Edwards said. “I hope and pray we don’t have to do it anywhere near that extent.”