As Hurricane Ida continued to bring disastrous effects to Louisiana, President Biden approved a disaster declaration for the state on Sunday evening. The White House press release states that a "major disaster exists in the State of Louisiana." This declaration allows federal aid to be used to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts for areas affected by Hurricane Ida.

Residents and business owners who sustained losses in the parishes designated in the disaster declaration can begin applying for assistance on Monday. More information can be found here: http://www.DisasterAssistance.gov.

As of 9 p.m. CDT, Ida is a strong Category 2 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Torrential downpours from Ida continue to produce life-threatening flash flooding across eastern Louisiana. In addition, catastrophic storm surge is also still ongoing across the area. AccuWeather forecasters say Ida will continue to lose wind intensity overnight, but the storm's dangerous, perhaps deadly, impacts will continue regardless of Ida's official designation.

In this radar image, Hurricane Ida continues to move inland over Louisiana on Sunday night, August 29, 2021. (AccuWeather)

Officials with the National Weather Service in New Orleans issued a rare flash flood emergency Sunday night for the south shore area of metro New Orleans. Between 4 and 7 inches of rain have fallen. Additional rainfall amounts of 3 to 6 inches are possible in the warned area and flash flooding was already occurring, the NWS said.

"This is a FLASH FLOOD EMERGENCY for South shore area of metro New Orleans. This is a PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION. SEEK HIGHER GROUND NOW!"

A flash flood emergency is the highest type of alert issued for flooding. These rare warnings are only issued when heavy rain is "leading to a severe threat to human life and catastrophic damage is happening or will happen soon," according to the NWS.

Eastern Louisiana was largely without power Sunday night as Hurricane Ida continued to wreak havoc as it moved inland. In Terrebonne Parish, 98% of all 27,753 tracked customers had no power on Sunday night, according to PowerOutage.us. Orleans Parish was 90% without power, leaving well over 100,000 customers with no power. Nearly 95% of customers in St. Charles Parish were also without power. Many other parishes in the state were also experiencing massive outages, including St. Bernard, St. John the Baptist, Plaquemines, Jefferson and Lafourche. Louisiana’s largest energy provider, Entergy, had over 600,000 customers without power on Sunday evening, making up 47.5% of all its customers statewide.

As a whole, the state had over 800,000 customers with no power. Officials with Entergy New Orleans confirmed that all of New Orleans was without power due to "catastrophic transmission damage." The only power coming within the city is from generators, officials said.

"Hurricane Ida’s intensity has caused catastrophic damage in its path, including a load imbalance to the company’s transmission and generation. We’re making every effort to learn more and rectify," Entergy New Orleans said in an update later Sunday night.

"Think about all the people who have been getting hit with all of these destructive winds for hours on end in New Orleans," AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said. "Now it is night, no power, dark, all kinds of debris blowing around -- scary."

Security footage released by officials in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, showed just how rapidly storm surge overwhelmed a fire station in Delacroix. Around 10:21 a.m. local time Sunday, the ground was wet, but flooding was not evident. Flash forward to 11:42 a.m. and the video shows turbulent seas overwhelming the property and even inundating the firehouse.

In a second video shared by the parish, ferocious ocean waters tossed by Ida made their way over a levee and through the Delacroix Yacht Club. The video footage also captured the sound of Ida's devastating winds that were lashing the region.

According to the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office, 911 and phone lines in the parish are currently down amid Hurricane Ida's impacts. The sheriff’s office asks that residents facing an emergency call (985) 772-4810 or (985) 772-4824 instead, and those that are not in an emergency situation refrain from calling. A parish-wide curfew is currently in effect for Lafourche as the eye of the hurricane passes by, and the curfew will remain in effect until further notice. Parts of the area are also now under a boil water advisory, meaning residents included under the advisory will not have water pressure until the water district reopens valves that were closed in an effort to preserve the system.

After making two landfalls in Louisiana as a Category 4 storm, Ida was downgraded to Category 3 hurricane at 6 p.m. CDT when the storm’s maximum sustained wind speeds lowered to 125 mph. On the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, a Category 3 hurricane has maximum sustained winds between 111-129 mph. The hurricane was able to maintain its Category 4 landfall strength for at least seven hours after it moved onto the coast. Ida is now continuing to move north-northwest at 10 mph.

Residents in the Braithwaite area between the Parish Line and White Ditch are being told to evacuate and seek higher ground immediately due to reports of the levee overtopping, meaning the flood water is pouring over the top, at White Ditch. The reports come from the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office, according to the National Weather Service in New Orleans.

The number of customers without power topped the 500,000 mark shortly before 5 p.m. CDT, figures from PowerOutage.us show, with nearly 300,000 of those customers coming from the counties of Jefferson and Orleans. Officials from Entergy, the state’s largest power provider, said some customers could be without power for three weeks or more, based on historical data regarding the impacts from Category 4 hurricanes.

A combination of strong winds and storm surge from Hurricane Ida caused the flow of the Mississippi River near New Orleans to stop before flowing again in reverse, according to CNN. Scott Perrien, a supervising hydrologist with the USGS Lower Mississippi Gulf Water Science Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, told the news outlet that the phenomenon is “extremely uncommon,” but has happened as a result of a major hurricane before. “I remember, offhand, that there was some flow reversal of the Mississippi River during Hurricane Katrina, but it is extremely uncommon,” Perrien said.

The storm surge reportedly caused the river’s water levels to rise 7 feet on Sunday in Belle Chasse, 20 miles south of New Orleans, which resulted in the flow of the river slowing from 2 feet per second to approximately half a foot per second in the opposite direction. “The river is feeling the effects of the storm over a large area,” Perrien said.

Ida has made landfall and the storm's devastating impacts are ongoing. Ida's widespread impacts will be felt for days, and the most significant impact will be the storm's flood threat, forecasters say. AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Bernie Rayno has a Sunday evening update of AccuWeather's Weather Insider podcast where he discusses the locations at greatest risk for flooding. Listen to Rayno's forecast below.

Over four hours after first making landfall, Hurricane Ida is still clinging on to Category 4 strength, packing maximum sustained winds of 130 mph as of 4 p.m. CDT. The threshold for a Category 4 storm is a hurricane with sustained winds between 130 and 156 mph. According to the National Hurricane Center, the system is moving to the northwest at 10 mph as it sits about 45 miles southwest of New Orleans and 70 miles south-southeast of Baton Rouge.

President Joe Biden met with officials from FEMA this afternoon and delivered remarks from the agency's headquarters shortly after, promising the impacted residents of Louisiana that the U.S. would use its "full might" for rescue and recovery efforts as Ida passes. Biden added that he's been around for plenty of hurricanes and he can't recall another storm that has been met with as much preparation.

“The most important thing I can say right now is that everyone should listen to the instructions from local and state officials, just how dangerous this is and take it seriously," Biden said. "It's not just the coast, it’s not just New Orleans, it’s the north as well. The rainfall is expected to be exceedingly high.”

For more of Biden's comments, watch the video below:

As if a major hurricane wasn’t bad enough, residents in New Orleans may also face the hardship of sewage backups due to power outages at pump stations. According to the city’s Sewage & Water Board, the outages are at stations on both the East and West Bank, leading officials to ask residents to reduce their wastewater.

“This increases the potential for sewer backups in homes. We urge those residents who still have power to minimize wastewater leaving their homes by not running your dishwasher or washing clothes,” the S&WB said. According to Fox8, the stations will remain powerless until after Ida passes.

A massive roof was "launched" by Hurricane Ida in Houma, Louisiana, shortly after landfall. As footage captured by Extreme Meteorologist Reed Timmer showed on Facebook, the huge roof crashed into a nearby utility pole, scattering debris and showcasing just a glimpse of the widespread damage in the southern portion of the Bayou State.

"This shows you the dangers, these giant roofs getting lofted," Timmer can be heard exclaiming in the video. "It looks like the power is out in Houma and a lot worse is here to come. A lot worse is on its way as the inner eyeball is about to arrive here in Houma!”

Category 4 Hurricane Ida made a second landfall southwest of Galliano, Louisiana, on Saturday afternoon around 2 p.m. CDT. At the time of the second landfall, the hurricane had maximum sustained winds of 145 mph. Ida continues to move northwest at 12 mph.

After Ida made landfall in the state, approximately 300,000 customers in Louisiana were without power on Sunday afternoon. According to poweroutage.us, the majority of outages in the state were focused in the southeastern part of the state, where Ida made landfall earlier in the day. In Jefferson Parish, over 200,000 customers were without power, and in Orleans Parish, where the city of New Orleans is located, over 190,000 customers were without power.

On the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina making landfall and devastating Louisiana, Hurricane Ida made landfall in Port Fourchon, located less than 50 miles away from where Katrina made landfall in Buras-Triumph. While Katrina notably crashed into the state from the south, Ida arrived from the southeast, meaning the impacts are expected to differ. Brian McNoldy, a hurricane expert at the University of Miami, told ABC7 that the angle of Ida’s arrival could potentially make it even more dangerous.

"This has the potential to be more of a natural disaster whereas the big issue in Katrina was more of a man-made one," McNoldy said, alluding to the levee failures in New Orleans that pushed Katrina’s death toll to over 1,800. McNoldy added that Ida’s angle of arrival could be potentially worse, as “it's not going to as easily create a huge storm surge ... but the angle that this is coming in, I think is more conducive to pushing water into the Lake (Pontchartrain)."

Satellite views of Hurricane Ida 2021 (top) and Hurricane Katrina 2005 (bottom) near landfall. (NOAA)

Correction: This post previously misstated the death toll for Hurricane Katrina. The death toll was more than 1,800, not 18,000.

As Hurricane Ida works its way inward through Louisiana, millions are being affected by the major hurricane’s impacts. One way you can help is by donating to the American Red Cross, which has mobilized hundreds of trained disaster workers and supplies to support thousands of people in evacuation shelters across the Gulf Coast. According to the organization, about 600 volunteers are either on the ground or prepared to assist relief efforts.

“Across Louisiana and Mississippi, the Red Cross and other organizations have opened dozens of evacuation shelters offering safe refuge for hundreds of people. The number of open shelters and people staying in them is changing hourly,” the Red Cross said in a statement. “In addition to our pre-positioned supplies, the Red Cross has moved truckloads of additional cots, blankets and comfort kits, along with tens of thousands of ready-to-eat meals into Louisiana and Mississippi this weekend.”

Video shared by Extreme Meteorologist Reed Timmer showed American flags in Houma, Louisiana, being torn apart as they billowed in the storm’s winds. Timmer said wind gust reports reached 148 mph in Grand Isle, Louisiana, before the anemometer, a tool to measure wind speeds, broke. “It's very likely that those winds are probably pushing 200 mph in gusts,” Timmer said, predicting that sheet metal will get picked up by the wind gusts soon and power lines will be brought down by the force of the winds.

The eye of Hurricane Ida has made landfall and it is getting closer to New Orleans. The area of the hurricane just outside of the eye is where the harshest winds are typically found. Tropical storm-force winds have been blowing across the city continuously for the past five hours and are expected to reach hurricane-force later this afternoon. AccuWeather National News Reporter Kim Leoffler is in New Orleans and said that the “wind gusts are starting to get very strong.” Many people that remain in the city are staying inside bracing for what is to come, but a few people can be spotted braving the elements and traveling.

A water plant at Grand Isle, Louisiana, gusted to 136 mph as Hurricane Ida moved onshore early Sunday afternoon. Grand Isle is located just a few miles east of where Ida made landfall. Winds also had gusted to 128 mph on an oil rig and NOAA's Southwest Pass station, 119 mph on a dredge.

Meanwhile, storm surge has been rising all day and is now 7.2 feet at Shell Beach, Louisiana, and 6.3 feet at Waveland, Mississippi. Grand Isle, Louisiana, was also on its way up at 5.24 feet.

Hurricane Ida's storm surge at Shell Beach, Louisiana reached 7.2 feet on the afternoon of August 29, 2021 (NOAA)

Chef José Andrés reported that World Central Kitchen is on the ground in New Orleans to help provide relief after the extremely dangerous Hurricane Ida. He noted winds were getting bad as Hurricane Ida made landfall. Three kitchens are ready with enough supplies to provide more than 100,000 meals, Andrés said as he and the team prepared to shelter in place until Ida passed. The team will mobilize and spread out into other cities after the hurricane moves on.

At 11:55 a.m. CDT Sunday, the eye of Hurricane Ida plowed into the coast of Louisiana over Port Fourchon. It was rated as a powerful Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, just 7 mph shy of Category 5 status. However, winds gusts were estimated to be over 180 mph in the worst part of the monstrous storm. The worst of the storm is far from over despite landfall with dangerous, tornado-like winds and substantial rainfall expected.

Ida is on its final approach to making landfall in Louisiana and the Hurricane Hunters are flying through the heart of the hurricane to gather meteorological data. During a Sunday morning flight, the crew on a mission captured stunning views from inside the eye of the storm. This perspective reveals a phenomenon some meteorologists call the “stadium effect” when the towering eyewall looks similar to a large stadium around a football field. This is something that can only be seen from inside the middle of the eye of a potent, well-organized hurricane, like Ida. The stadium effect was well documented by the Hurricane Hunters on Oct. 21, 2020, when they flew through the eye of Hurricane Epsilon.

At 11:00 a.m. CDT, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported that Category 4 Hurricane Ida was maintaining its 150-mph maximum sustained winds as its northern eyewall was moving onshore along the coast of southeastern Louisiana. The storm's center was located about 25 miles south-southwest of Grand Isle, Louisiana, and about 60 miles southeast of Houma, Louisiana. In the update, the NHC said that an elevated NOAA weather station at Southwest Pass, Louisiana, recorded a sustained wind of 89 mph and a wind gust of 104 mph.

At 11:00 a.m. CDT, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported that Category 4 Hurricane Ida was maintaining its 150-mph maximum sustained winds as its northern eyewall was moving onshore along the coast of southeastern Louisiana. The storm's center was located about 25 miles south-southwest of Grand Isle, Louisiana, and about 60 miles southeast of Houma, Louisiana. In the update, the NHC said that an elevated NOAA weather station at Southwest Pass, Louisiana, recorded a sustained wind of 89 mph and a wind gust of 104 mph.

An extreme wind warning is in effect for Houma, Louisiana, down to Leeville, Louisiana, where the National Weather Service was warning residents to "Treat these imminent extreme winds as if a tornado was approaching and move immediately to an interior room or shelter NOW!"

AccuWeather National Reporter Kim Leoffler is stationed in New Orleans covering Hurricane Ida and on Sunday morning got an up-close look at the city's floodgates, which were closed a day earlier. In the video Leoffler posted on Twitter, rain was falling and Ida's winds were howling and shaking palm trees. The center of Hurricane Ida was just about 85 miles south of New Orleans at that point. Watch below.

Power outages topped 56,000 on Sunday morning, according to PowerOutage.us, and were rising quickly as Hurricane Ida's powerful winds and heavy rains blasted the region. The majority of the customers who had lost power by this point were located in Plaquemines Parish, which is just to the southeast of New Orleans.

AccuWeather RealVue™ Satellite imagery on Sunday morning showed a very well-defined, if not menacing-looking, eye of Hurricane Ida nearing the edges of the Louisiana coast. As of 10 a.m., local time, Hurricane Ida was a strong Category 4 storm with 150 mph sustained winds. It's been rated a 4 on the AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes, due to the widespread damage forecasters expect it to cause across the central Gulf Coast. The storm was within 85 miles of New Orleans as of 10 a.m., the NHC reported. AccuWeather forecasters expected landfall to occur at about noon local time.

AccuWeather's RealVue™ Satellite image showed Hurricane Ida's eye as it was nearing landfall late in the morning on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021.

(AccuWeather)

AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell is reporting outside the New Orleans Convention Center this morning where winds are starting to ramp up and the streets are deserted. Wadell said police are beginning to patrol the streets and several volunteer rescue groups have arrived in the city to assist with search and rescue operations. As of 10 a.m., local time, Ida was 85 miles south of New Orleans and moving northwest at 13 mph. Watch the video below for more.

Hurricane Ida has brought extreme wind gusts to coastal Louisiana Sunday morning. Two different weather stations owned by NOAA at Southwest Pass reported wind gusts of 128 mph and 121 mph, while two oil rigs nearby gusted to 117 and 112 mph. The highest sustained winds measured by those NOAA stations were 105 mph, equal to a strong Category 2 hurricane An amateur station atop a dredge in the mouth of the Mississippi river recorded a 108-mph gust.

Extreme meteorologist Reed Timmer is stationed in Houma, Louisiana, a small city about 60 miles to the southwest of New Orleans. Timmer reported that the streets are largely empty there -- a curfew is in effect -- though a few last-minute evacuees could be seen fleeing. In a video post on Twitter, Timmer explained how Ida's powerful winds will impact storm surge amid the complex terrain and bayous of southern Louisiana. Watch below for more. 

Hurricane Ida was on the verge of making landfall at about 9 a.m. local time, according to the NHC. The northern portion of Ida's eyewall was approaching the southeastern Louisiana, coast. The storm was moving to the northwest at 14 mph and maximum sustained winds remained at 150 mph. Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 50 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 140 miles, meaning many on land were experiencing tropical storm conditions, and some were enduring hurricane conditions. Ida's well-defined eye could be seen on AccuWeather radar as the storm threatened landfall.

AccuWeather radar shows Hurricane Ida's eye as it approached the Louisiana coastline on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021.

AccuWeather / NOAA

Residents of New Orleans were told to begin sheltering in place as of midnight as the time for evacuation has passed and even being outdoors was becoming downright dangerous. "Listen to your radio, television, or phone for updates," the city advised residents in a message posted on Twitter. Thousands evacuated southern Louisiana on Saturday as Ida charged across the Gulf Of Mexico, strengthening along the way. Drone footage showed cars lined for miles on Highway 90 as people fled the storm zone.

Highway 90 near Morgan City, Louisiana, was backed up bumper to bumper on Aug. 28 as thousands left the city due to a mandatory evacuation.

(LSM / Brandon Clement)

On the latest edition of AccuWeather's Weather Insider podcast, AccuWeather Chief Broadcast Meteorologist Bernie Rayno provides an update on Ida. Rayno discusses the storm's life-threatening impacts and where the storm will make landfall on Sunday. Rayno says the storm will be "devastating" for New Orleans. Bernie also analyzes where the storm will head after landfall and the widespread flooding it will unleash across the South. Listen to Rayno's forecast analysis below.

Satellite images from Sunday morning showed numerous lightning strikes erupting within Hurricane Ida's cloud structure. This is an ominous sign, forecasters say, because it could indicate further strengthening prior to landfall. Already, Ida was nearing Category 5 strength as sustained winds were at 150 mph and hurricane conditions were being felt across southern Louisiana.

Lightning in hurricane Ida is shown as purple on this GOES-16 satellite loop on the morning of Aug. 29, 2021. (NOAA/CIRA)

Water flooding in from storm surge brought on by the approach of Hurricane Ida could be seen inundating Route 1 at Leeville, Louisiana, which is about a 90-minute drive south of New Orleans. The below gif shows floodwaters rushing across the roadway on Sunday morning as well as what things looked like there on Saturday, well ahead of the arrival of the storm. Elsewhere, storm surge in Waveland, Mississippi, rose to 4.89 feet Sunday morning by 9 a.m., with 4.55 feet at Shell Beach, Louisiana. Both readings are well above normal. Storm surge will be a major threat as Ida hits, AccuWeather forecasters have warned. A storm surge of 10-15 feet is forecast along portions of the central Louisiana coast, with 6 to 10 feet likely to extend from across the eastern Louisiana coast to the barrier islands south of mainland Mississippi. A storm surge of 3-6 feet is forecast to extend as far inland as Lake Pontchartrain and coastal areas of the Alabama Panhandle.

Storm surge flooding in Leeville, Louisiana, Sunday morning Aug. 29, 2021, compared to the previous afternoon. (LADOT)

As Ida eyes the Louisiana Gulf Coast, AccuWeather meteorologists warn that the hurricane's impacts will extend well inland across the eastern United States this week. Heavy, tropical rainfall is forecast to deluge locations from Louisiana and Mississippi through the Tennessee Valley and into the Northeast with widespread rainfall amounts of 2-4 inches. Heavy rain is expected to fall across Waverly, Tennessee, and Hartford, Connecticut, both of which were still recovering from devastating flooding events just a week ago.

Only two hurricanes in recorded history have ever hit Louisiana with sustained winds of 150 mph: the hurricane that hit Last Island in 1856 and Hurricane Laura, which hammered Louisiana last year, according to Colorado State University meteorologist Philip Klotzbach. As Ida made its final approach Sunday morning, sustained winds were right at the 150-mph mark, 7 mph shy of Category 5 force. Should the winds increase at all prior to and when Ida makes landfall, Ida will become the strongest hurricane to ever hit Louisiana. Record-keeping began in 1851.

As of Saturday morning, Hurricane Ida's wind field had expanded. Hurricane-force winds extended up to 50 miles out from the storm's center, according to the NHC, up from 40 miles earlier. And tropical-storm-force winds extended outward up to 140 miles. On an elevated oil rig in Mississippi Canyon a wind gust of 117 mph was recorded and near Southwest Pass, Louisiana, a gust of 115 mph was recorded. The gif below, made using AccuWeather's windflow tool, visualizes the wind contours near the Gulf Coast as Ida bears down. 

Overnight, Ida continued rapidly strengthening, with top sustained winds reaching 150 mph by early Sunday morning, making it a very strong Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. Sustained winds of 157 mph or higher would qualify as Category 5 force. The NHC said winds are gusting even higher than 150 mph. Satellite imagery showed Ida's eye was bearing down on the Louisiana coast, within just 60 miles of the mouth of the Mississippi River, according to the NHC. AccuWeather forecasters have warned that Local StormMaxTM of 180 mph wind gusts are expected near where the center of Ida makes landfall, likely on Grand Island, Louisiana.

A satellite image showing Hurricane Ida bearing down on the U.S. Gulf Coast early on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021.

(NOAA)

Heavy rain from Hurricane Ida has begun across the southeastern Louisiana coast on Sunday morning, and heavy precipitation is expected to spread across Louisiana and Mississippi throughout the day Sunday as the hurricane's eye moves closer to shore. Showers and thunderstorms associated with Ida are also impacting the Florida Panhandle on Sunday morning, though higher rainfall totals from Ida are anticipated to remain to the west.

Wind gusts of at least 40 mph will also arrive on Sunday across southeastern Louisiana, southern Mississippi and the coastal Panhandle. Then, Ida's most powerful winds will arrive. Higher gusts of up to 160 mph are forecast across parts of southeastern Louisiana and can be destructive. Tornadoes and waterspouts are also possible. Residents are urged to be careful and listen to public officials during this life-threatening event.

This radar image, captured early Sunday morning, shows one of Hurricane Ida's outer bands rolling across the New Orleans area, with a visible eye in the Gulf of Mexico. (AccuWeather)

With Hurricane Ida's rapid strengthening and its track moving slightly eastward, the threat to New Orleans has increased, and the "window for preparations has pretty much closed," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bill Deger. The Category 4 hurricane will bring impacts to coastal Louisiana through the morning hours and still has the potential to strengthen further before landfall early Sunday afternoon.

"Residents and interests from Louisiana through Alabama should be prepared for prolonged power outages, a devastating storm surge on the eastern side of the storm, destructive winds and flying debris and major, life-threatening flooding," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Rob Miller said.

Travelers are stranded at the New Orleans International Airport early Sunday morning after all flights in and out were canceled due to Ida's approach. Marguerite Alexander of Philadelphia told AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell that her original flight and rebooked flight were both canceled, and she has had no luck booking a hotel or a rental car. Roads out of town are packed with traffic from those trying to evacuate while forecasters warn that Ida can bring impacts in the next 6 hours, including flooding rains and destructive winds, ahead of a midday landfall. Alexander looked to be stranded at the airport as the storm closed in.

Shortly after intensifying into a major hurricane early Sunday morning, Ida has already become a "dangerous" Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale, according to the National Hurricane Center. In only about an hour, Ida gained 15 mph of wind speed, giving it 130 mph sustained winds and a minimum central pressure of 949 mb as it continues to approach Louisiana. AccuWeather forecasters are watching the hurricane closely and anticipate flooding rainfall, storm surge, road closures and damaging winds.

Early on Sunday morning, Hurricane Ida has strengthened to a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale, according to the National Hurricane Center as it barrels northwestward toward Louisiana. Widespread power outages and several feet of storm surge is expected across the coast of Louisiana, and forecasters anticipate it will continue to strengthen before making landfall near New Orleans.

As evacuations were underway on Saturday night, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport announced that all arriving and departing flights scheduled for Sunday, August 29, have been canceled in anticipation of Hurricane Ida's landfall. AccuWeather meteorologists expect Ida to make landfall midday on Sunday just south of New Orleans as a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. As of Saturday night, a hurricane warning is in effect for Intracoastal City, Louisiana, to the mouth of the Pearl River, as well as Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas and Metropolitan New Orleans.

Hundreds of people in jail were evacuated in Orleans Parish and Plaquemines Parish in Louisiana on Saturday ahead of Hurricane Ida making landfall. According to NBC reporter Christina Watkins, the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office evacuated over 835 people from jail and released three under an emergency declaration. In Plaquemines Parish, the sheriff’s office evacuated over 600 people from jail.

The coasts of Texas and Louisiana have seen more than their fair share of hurricanes in recent years, and while residents in Lake Charles, Louisiana, are certainly keeping an eye on Hurricane Ida, much of their focus is still on the 2020 season. Almost exactly one year ago, the deadly Hurricane Laura slammed into the city at Category 4 strength, becoming the strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in the Bayou State. Twelve months later, residents and state officials are still pleading for federal aid, having made requests both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump for $3 billion in recovery aid that have gone unfulfilled.

Video taken from the usually lively Bourbon Street in New Orleans appeared bare on Saturday as residents in the area begin hurricane preparations. Only a few pedestrians and vehicles could be seen on the street on Saturday afternoon. According to AccuWeather Reporter Kim Leoffler, many businesses in the area had already closed their doors for the day and boarded up entrances and windows and set out sandbags in anticipation of the storm.

Flood gates in the federal levee system are being closed by the Flood Protection Authority to prevent a storm surge in New Orleans as Ida moves toward land. According to the New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, this levee closure includes the Lake Borgne Surge Barrier, which is the largest design-built civil works project in Army Corps history and so large it can be seen from space.

As many residents of Louisiana race to the airports to evacuate ahead of Ida’s landfall, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is warning of long lines, and suggesting travelers plan accordingly to not miss their flights. According to a spokesperson to TSA Gulf, which encapsulates Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, traffic on the roads surrounding the airports in Louisiana are “severe,” and the lines for security and check-in within the airports are getting longer and longer due to evacuations throughout the state. TSA Gulf recommends travelers arrive at the airport three hours early in order to make their flights. 

The entire Louisiana National Guard was activated on Saturday, according to a USA Today reporter. On Saturday afternoon, 4,013 members of the national guard were standing by with even more set to join them. In a press briefing on Friday, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards announced that President Joe Biden approved a pre-landfall federal emergency declaration for the state as Hurricane Ida makes its way toward land. “This declaration is a key part of us being able to respond to Hurricane Ida and really to prepare in advance of landfall,” Edwards said. In addition to the federal declaration approved by Biden, Edwards said he issued an emergency declaration for the state as well the day prior.

Thousands took to the roads ahead of Hurricane Ida's approach to the Gulf Coast on Saturday. Residents hauled boats out of the water and stocked up on sand for their sandbags. Others used plywood to bolster their storefronts and homes.

Baton Rouge Airport announced a series of flight cancelations on its Twitter account as the state of Louisiana prepares for Hurricane Ida. According to the airport, all flights through Delta Air Lines are canceled for Sunday, while all flights through American and United airlines are canceled on Sunday after 10 a.m. Prior to 10 a.m., local time, American and United flights are scheduled to operate as planned, but the airport suggests that travelers check with their airline for the status of their flight.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has declared a state of emergency for Alabama’s coastal and western counties effective at 2:00pm CDT in advance of Hurricane Ida’s expected landfall in the region. The order prohibits price gouging, activates the Alabama National Guard to respond, and facilitates the transportation of emergency supplies. “With a storm like this, we always want to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst,” Ivey said, noting that flooding and tornadoes are possible in Alabama even as the storm is forecast to landfall in Louisiana.

According to the New Orleans Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), 49.82% of all 560 human-operated oil production platforms in the Gulf Coast have been evacuated due to Hurricane Ida. In a statement, the BSEE announced it had activated its Hurricane Response Team and is monitoring the oil and gas operators in the Gulf as the hurricane intensifies. Personnel have also been evacuated from 11 rigs that do not move, meaning they are stuck to the sea flood. Of the rigs in the Gulf that are able to be moved around on the sea floor, 11 have been relocated, making up 73.3% of all rigs of this type in the Gulf. In total, 90.84% of the current oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut in, and 84.87% of gas production has been shut in. The facilities will be inspected after the hurricane passes before being brought back online.

On their Twitter account, NOAA's Hurricane Hunters, who fly into tropical systems to collect important data, shared a photo from inside the eye of Hurricane Ida. Conditions inside the eye of a hurricane are calm; a hurricanes strongest winds surround the eye. Hurricane Hunters collect invaluable hurricane data, such as measuring the storms central pressure and wind speeds, among other critical data. The Hurricane Hunters operate 10 Lockheed-Martin WC-130J airplanes, according to the group's website.

A photo taken from the NOAA hurricane hunters WP-3D Orion NOAA43 aircraft, nicknamed 'Miss Piggy,' as the team flew directly into the eye of Hurricane Ida over the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday August 28, 2021.

(Lt. Cmdr. Doremus, NOAA Corps.)

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is asking that people do not arrive at the airport unless they already have travel plans confirmed ahead of Hurricane Ida’s landfall. In addition, the airport asks travelers that plan to fly to reschedule travel with airlines over the phone before arriving at the airport. So far, only seven flights from the New Orleans airport have been canceled and six have been delayed, but 29 flights going into the New Orleans airport have been canceled and three have been delayed, according to Flight Aware.

According to the National Hurricane Center’s latest update, Hurricane Ida is now a Category 2 hurricane with wind speeds sustained at 100mph. Tropical-storm-force winds extend 125 miles from Ida’s center. Ida, which is moving northwest at 16mph, has a minimum central pressure of 976mb. AccuWeather forecasters expect Ida to strengthen into a Category 4 hurricane with gusts of 140 to 160mph.

In addition to high winds and dangerous storm surge, Hurricane Ida is expected to be a prolific rainmaker, with AccuWeather meteorologists forecasting rainfall totals of 12 to 18 inches in parts of Louisiana with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of up to 24 inches. Potentially flooding rains are expected well-beyond Louisiana, though, with 4 to 8 inches of rain expected across parts of Tennessee and Kentucky and 1 to 2 inches of rain expected as far as Washington D.C. and New York City as Ida bends eastward after landfall.

In her latest press conference in advance of the arrival of Hurricane Ida, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell told those who are voluntarily evacuating the city that “now is the time to leave.” Cantrell urged those who have opted to stay in the city to hunker down and prepare for damaging winds, power outages, heavy rain and tornadoes. Leveed areas of the city are not under mandatory evacuations. “This storm in no way will be weakening … there are no signs this storm will weaken, and there is always an opportunity for the storm to strengthen,” Cantrell said. AccuWeather meteorologists expect Ida to strike Louisiana as a dangerous Category 4 hurricane with wind gusts of 140 to 160 miles per hour.

Satellite imagery shared by the National Weather Service shows Hurricane Ida beginning to develop an eye, a distinctive feature in the center of a hurricane that signals a strong storm. Conditions in the eye itself are calm, but the storms which surround the eye, the eyewall, are where the highest winds occur. "The greatest impacts of a northward-moving hurricane will be felt not only near the eye, but also on the storm's northern and eastern side in general," AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski said.

Ida is forecast to rapidly intensify into a dangerous Category 4 hurricane before making landfall in Louisiana. On the AccuWeather RealImpact™Scale for Hurricanes, which accounts for flooding rains, storm surge and economic damage in addition to wind speed, Ida is currently rated a 4.

According to AccuWeather forecasters, wind gusts from Hurricane Ida could peak at an extremely dangerous 180 mph. Ida is forecast to unleash gusts of 140-160mph with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™of 180mph. Wind gusts in Lafayette, Louisiana, could reach up to 120 mph, while wind gusts in New Orleans are expected to be between 60 to 80 miles per hour. Hurricane-force winds of 74 mph or greater are expected along much of the Louisiana coast and may extend as far inland as northern Mississippi and southeastern Arkansas.

Louisiana is facing its first hurricane landfall this weekend for the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season following four landfalls from last year — two of which were major hurricanes. Tropical Storm Cristobal, Hurricane Laura (Category 4), Hurricane Delta (Category 2) and Hurricane Zeta (Category 3) had all made landfall along the Louisiana’s coastline in 2020 with two striking the western shore and the other striking the east. Hurricane Laura, which made landfall in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, as a Category 4 hurricane, made history as the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the southwestern portion of the state since records began in 1851, according to the National Weather Service.

While Ida’s forecast landfall may change depending on how quickly it strengthens, here’s a list of cities that the storm may impact:

Traffic at portions of I-10, the southernmost cross-country highway in the U.S., crawled along at a snail's pace Saturday morning as residents evacuated from Hurricane Ida’s the path. However, since Ida strengthened too quickly to call for contraflow, according to New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell, images from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) show packed traffic in lanes heading away from central Louisiana next to nearly empty lanes. 

Image of the I-10 and 1-110 split near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as traffic heading westward crawled along at a snail's pace late Saturday morning. (Louisiana DOTD)

As the sun rose on Saturday, Aug. 28, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) GOES-East satellite showed the massive size of Hurricane Ida, still a Category 1 hurricane, as it churned in the Gulf of Mexico. The storm’s outer bands swept across the Florida peninsula as barreled northeastward toward Louisiana. The imagery also showed Hurricane Nora, a Category 1 hurricane in the Pacific Ocean, churning off the southwestern coast of Mexico. There is the possibility that the system could produce flooding rainfall in the southwestern U.S. from the middle and end of next week, according to AccuWeather forecasters.

Satellite image of Hurricane Ida as it swirls in the Gulf Coast on Saturday morning, Aug. 28. In the lefthand corner, Hurricane Nora swirls in the eastern Pacific Ocean. (NOAA//NESDIS/STAR GOES-EAST)

Hurricane Ida shown barreling toward Louisiana as a Category 1 hurricane on Saturday morning. (AccuWeather Enahnced RealVue™ Satellite)

The Atlantic basin has been teeming with tropical activity, but through the final week of August the United States had yet to be hit by a hurricane. Four tropical storms -- Danny, Elsa, Fred, and Henri -- have made landfall on U.S. soil, though Elsa skirted by Tampa, about 65 miles to the west as a hurricane, and Henri weakened to a tropical storm in the hours before landfall in Rhode Island. Also, back in early June, Tropical Storm Claudette impacted the U.S., but in an unusual meteorological twist, it was named a tropical storm by the NHC while it was over Louisiana, so it never made a traditional landfall.

In the history of retiring notable tropical storm system names, which dates back to 1954, storm names beginning with the letter 'I' have been retired more times than any other letter. There are 12 retired I-named storms, 11 of which were the ninth-named storm of a season and one, Iota, was the 30th named storm of the hyperactive 2020 season that exhausted the pre-established name set. The notability of I-named storms revolves around the peak of hurricane season, which falls in late August and early September, generally around the same time when a season sees its ninth named storm. The first I-named storm to be retired was Hurricane Ione in 1955.

Preparation is the key to success, and when it comes to hurricane preparation, setting and knowing your evacuation plan can be life-saving. When riding out a hurricane is too dangerous, officials declare evacuation orders not just for the resident’s safety, but also for the safety of first responders who may need to rescue those who stay behind. When developing an evacuation plan, planning a route to a safe destination, locating shelters and stocking up on supplies are essential. Officials recommend packing enough items to last multiple days or even a week away from home.

AccuWeather experts have been warning for weeks that the sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico could be favorable for tropical development, which is anything but favorable for those that may be affected by the strengthened storm. All week, those water temperatures along the coast of Texas and Louisiana were in the 80s and as high as 90 degrees Fahrenheit in some spots, ripe for intensifying a storm ahead of landfall. According to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski, sea surface temperatures in the mid-80s are "significantly above normal for this time of year."

South of the Caribbean islands, those temperatures are around 83 degrees, which is still warm, but indicates that systems will find more favorable conditions for development the closer they get to land.

The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season is just past the halfway point and about to enter the peak portion of the activity. With Ida becoming the ninth storm of the season to be given a name, and the fourth to reach hurricane strength, the season is right on pace for what AccuWeather meteorologists forecast back in March. Experts forecast at the time that the season would produce 16-20 named storms and 7-10 hurricanes, three to five of which would reach major strength stage.

However, AccuWeather veteran hurricane expert Dan Kottlowski's team said back then that three to five named storms were expected to make landfall on the U.S. Once Ida makes contact with the U.S., it will be the fifth named storm of the season to do so, making this season even more active for the U.S. than previously thought.