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Ida pummels Louisiana
By Melissa Mahtani, Melissa Macaya, Aditi Sangal, Mike Hayes, Judson Jones, Jack Guy and Kathryn Snowdon, CNN
- All
- Damage
- Forecasts
- Rescue Efforts
The scope of Ida's damage is coming into view this morning. Here's a look at the scene.
From CNN's Clint Alwahab
Ida is no longer a hurricane, but it continues to leave a path of damage. The tropical storm is moving over southwestern Mississippi and a threat of flooding remains in some parts of Louisiana.
Ida slammed into Louisiana on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, tying with 2020's Hurricane Laura and the Last Island Hurricane of 1856 as the strongest ever to hit the state.
Here's a look at what the scene is like in some parts of Louisiana:
Slidell, Louisiana, emergency officials deploy boats to conduct water rescues
Slidell, Louisiana, Mayor Greg Cromer said there is water in "every neighborhood in town" and local officials had to deploy boats to conduct water rescues early this morning.
"In about a three hour period, we had probably five to six foot rise in the bayou and the lake estuary system that pushed water into a number of people's homes on the south side of our community," Cromer said.
Slidell is located on the far east end of Lake Pontchartrain.
"We had to deploy boats at 4:00 this morning and do water rescues. We took about 15 people off their roofs off their homes," he said.
The mayor said that the water seems to be receding in the bayou area, but they do not think they have seen the "height of it yet." Cromer said officials are now using high-water vehicles to take people out of the neighborhood to the lower side of town.
Cromer warned the worst of the flooding could still be coming.
“As this storm goes north, and the winds shift out of a southeasterly direction to a southwesterly direction, it’ll start taking and pushing all that water that’s in [Lake Pontchartrain] and it begins to stack up on our side of the lake, and we’ll see another rise in water, we think this afternoon," Cromer said.
The mayor said that due to downed power lines and sporadic service, some people have been able to get through to officials on the 911 systems, while others flagged police officers after leaving their homes.
He added that some people waded out waist deep and flagged police officers down and told them what was going on, "and we were able to get in there and find these folks," he said. "But it has been a pretty long morning for our first responders, our police officers and some of our firemen.
Cromer said he hopes to have their electric grid back up in three to five days, “which would be much, much quicker than the two weeks it took after Katrina.”
More than 5,000 National Guard personnel activated to help in hurricane recovery efforts, Pentagon says
Thousands of National Guard personnel are going to the Gulf Coast to help with the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor, vice director for logistics of the Joint Staff, said on Monday.
Taylor said in coordination with the National Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), about 5,200 people will be activated in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Alabama.
"They bring a variety of assets including high water vehicles, rotary lift and other transportation capability to support recovery efforts," Taylor said.
Additionally, Taylor said the US Army Corp of Engineers is operational in New Orleans and is "assessing the storm's impact."
The Department of Defense also "stands ready" to assist as requested by FEMA, Taylor said.
Louisiana governor says he "fully expects the death count will go up considerably throughout the day"
From CNN’s Gregory Lemos
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Monday that as search and rescue efforts get underway in the wake of Hurricane Ida, he “fully expects the death count will go up considerably throughout the day.”
“I don’t want to mislead anyone. Robust search and rescue is happening right now and I fully expect that that death count will go up considerably throughout the day,” Edwards told MSNBC Monday.
Over 900 search and rescue personnel from 16 different states, plus the Louisiana National Guard, are on the ground assisting with the effort, which began around 3:00 a.m. this morning, Edwards said.
The governor said the storm made landfall “very much as advertised” and brought catastrophic wind and rain.
The amount of surge and rain Ida pushed into the state caused severe flooding, Edwards said. The governor said there are people still sheltering on the second floor of their homes and in attics.
Edwards said the amount of debris and standing water is making it difficult for first responders to access the hardest hit areas.
He said almost all of southeast Louisiana is without power and that all eight major transmission lines that feed electricity into the greater New Orleans area have failed.
“We are waiting for an update from Entergy and the Public Service Commission. I know that they are looking very hard to figure out how to power up as much as possible, focusing on the most critical infrastructure and that’s our hospitals,” Edwards said.
Edwards said the levee system “performed extremely well.”
“If we had to deal with a failed levee system this morning, it would be completely unimaginable and thank goodness that is not what we are dealing with today,” he said.
Rain band from Ida moving through southeast Louisiana, including Grand Isle
From CNN's Brandon Miller
A trailing outer band from Tropical Storm Ida is bringing some locally heavy rain and gusty winds to portions of southeastern Louisiana, including in the hard-hit location of Grand Isle.
This could lead to some additional localized flooding, winds of 30 mph or more, and lightning.
These storms will continue on and off into the afternoon and could complicate relief efforts in the region.
Crews assessing failed levee, but most people are out of the area, parish president says
From CNN’s Amanda Watts
Officials in Plaquemines Parish say a levee that failed as Hurricane Ida hit on Sunday has been sealed, but crews continue to work on it today and assess how badly it was damaged.
Kirk Lepine, the president of the parish, said they are dropping more sandbags and using boats, a helicopter and drones to get a better picture of the condition it is in.
Lepine said they have not received any 911 calls from people still in the area. He said the area where the water is is "pretty desolate," adding they are "pretty confident there is not a lot of people there."
Many people followed evacuation orders and left the area, he said.
"This is the time that we try to find out and make an assessment of how bad it really is," Lepine said.
A Monday post on the Plaquemines Parish Facebook page said, “Storm surge in the Myrtle Grove area reached Highway 23 last night (as expected) and moved in a northerly direction.” Highway 23 is where the levee is located.
Crews made a temporary levee system using Hesco barriers, which PPSO described as bags.
“Last night the storm surge breached the temporary Hesco barrier causing the surge to continue north. The temporary Hesco barrier has been repaired and we are currently assessing the situation to assure there wasn't any breach to the permanent levee system,” the sheriff’s office said.
“At this point, we are still monitoring the situation, but it appears the surge stopped just north of the Alliance Refinery near the Cypresswood Inn,” the post says.
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