The storm, a powerful Category 4, made landfall the same day Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana and Mississippi 16 year earlier. It was located approximately 40 miles (64 km) west of the area where Category 3 Katrina first struck.
Ida arrives with a barometric tension of 930 millibars. This makes it the fifth strongest hurricane to hit land in the United States. It is tied for the 9th strongest U.S. landfall based on central pressure.
Ida intensified rapidly overnight as it traveled through the northern Gulf of Mexico’s warmest ocean water. Its top winds increased by 45 mph (72 kmph) to 150mph (230 kmph) in just five hours.
On Sunday, hurricane force winds began to hit Grand Isle. A beachfront camera captured the ocean rising steadily as the growing waves whipped and the palm trees being whipped before power was lost to the barrier island of Louisiana. According to PowerOutage.US which tracks outages across the country, more than 100,000 Louisiana customers were without power by noon.
Wind ripped at awnings, and water started gushing out of Lake Ponchartrain near New Orleans. Officials said that Ida’s rapid intensification from a few storms to a massive hurricane in three days meant there was no time for mandatory evacuations of the 390,000.
Mayor LaToya Catrell advised residents to move on. Residents who remained were advised to be prepared for power outages in the sweltering heat.
Nick Mosca was out with his dog walking, as were most others who were out on Sunday morning.
“I would like to be more prepared. There are a few things we could have done. Mosca stated that the storm was very fast, and you can only do what you can.”
The median Sunday in New Orleans was a few feet higher than the rest of the city and could protect from flooding. Breads on Oak was open, three blocks away from the Mississippi River Levee. They offer two-for-one deals so that as many of their baked goods as possible are sold.
Chamain O’Mahony, co-owner, said, “Everybody is like, Oooh! We need our hurricane pastries!” Everyone’s coming out to get hurricane food, including biscuits and lots of cinnamon rolls and Brioche. You want sweet treats. You want bread.
O’Mahony, her husband and their children planned to stay in the apartment that they normally rent next to the bakery until conditions became too severe or inventory ran out.
Helicopters and boats were used to transport workers and supplies from Port Fourchon to oil platforms across the ocean. The oil is then transported to refineries. Officials estimate that the port handles approximately 5% of the country’s oil and gas.
Ida, along with the oil industry threatened a region already suffering from a resurgence in COVID-19 infection. This is due to low vaccination rates as well as the highly contagious Delta variant. New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and the wetlands to their south are home to more than 2 million people.
New Orleans hospitals planned to ride out the storm with their beds nearly full, as similarly stressed hospitals elsewhere had little room for evacuated patients. Shelters for people fleeing their homes ran the risk of becoming infected flashpoints.
Forecasters predicted winds of 115 mph (185 km/h) would soon be in Houma. This city of 33,000 supports oil platforms in Gulfport, Mississippi to the east.
Governor John Bel Edwards promised that Louisiana’s “resilient, tough people” would weather the storm.
Edwards stated that Louisiana officials were trying to find hotels for evacuees to reduce the number of people forced to shelter in mass shelters. He pointed out that Louisiana had rooms available for more than 20,000 people during the hurricane season last year.
President Joe Biden approved the emergency declarations of Louisiana and Mississippi in advance of Ida arriving.
Residents bracing for Ida felt heavy burdened by the comparisons to Katrina’s Aug. 29, 2005 landfall. Katrina, a Category 3 storm, was responsible for 1,800 deaths. It caused levee breaches and devastating flooding in New Orleans. It also destroyed homes along the Mississippi coast. Ida’s hurricane force winds were less than 40 miles (64 km) away from Katrina’s eye.
Officials stated that New Orleans’ drainage and levee systems had greatly improved since Katrina. However, they warned that flooding is still possible with as much as 24 inches (61 cm) of rain expected in certain areas.
