'Road ahead of us is a long one': Louisiana still in shock almost 1 week after Ida
By
Brian Lada, AccuWeather meteorologist
Updated Sep 5, 2021 3:12 PM EST
Hurricane Ida made landfall on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, but AccuWeather meteorologists say it had more similarities to another storm.
Nearly a week after Ida crashed into the Louisiana coast as a powerful Category 4 storm, President Joe Biden paid a visit to the state to tour the damage and visit with some of the survivors and officials who are working around the clock.
On Friday, Biden addressed reporters in LaPlace, Louisiana. Because many people are still without phone and internet service, Biden said people representing the government and FEMA will go door to door to make sure impacted residents know what resources are available to them. Crew members from 32 states have been helping to restore power in the state, two of which have died.
"We've been working together to deliver millions of meals and liters of water," Biden said.
Biden said so far, the government has provided $100 million in critical assistance for the residents of Louisiana by sending $500 directly to their bank accounts. Biden asked those who have been impacted and are still in need of federal assistance to visit disasterassistance.gov or call 1-800-621-FEMA.
"Hurricane Ida is another reminder that we need to be prepared for the next hurricane, and superstorms are going to come -- and they're going to come more frequently and more ferociously," Biden said.
Based on its maximum sustained winds of 150 mph at landfall, Ida was the seventh-strongest hurricane on record to strike the United States. It also made landfall exactly 16 years after Hurricane Katrina, although the two storms were far from identical.
The death toll continued to tick upward with at least 14 deaths being blamed on Ida in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, according to The Associated Press.
Among those are four nursing home residents who were evacuated to a warehouse with 839 others from nursing homes. After being transported to the warehouse, conditions were found to be unsafe and unhealthy. An investigation has been launched into the decision to transport hundreds of nursing home residents to this facility.
“We thought they would have been better taken care of,” Renetta Derosia said, according to the AP. Derosia stopped by the warehouse on Thursday to visit her mother and to see how she was fairing in the wake of Ida. “Had I known, I would have taken her with us.”
Several deaths in the South were attributed to carbon monoxide poisoning amid the long-duration power outage and generator use, the AP reported.
Ida’s death toll was even higher in the Northeast as the tropical rainstorm unloaded record-challenging rain and severe weather across parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Connecticut. At least 51 deaths were reported in the Northeast in relation to Ida as of Friday morning, and officials expect that toll to climb as the door-to-door search continues.
Thousands of residents who evacuated Louisiana ahead of Ida’s arrival have yet to return home in the storm’s wake. Commercial flights by Delta resumed at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport on Thursday after days of suspended operation, a sign of slow recovery in the area. However, displaced residents that return home now may still be without water or power for days as crews work long hours every day to restore services across the region.
“The road ahead of us is a long one, but I’m proud of the progress we’ve made,” New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said on Thursday. “Our focus remains on providing critical needs to our people.”
In a Saturday update from Entergy, 282,000 of the more than 900,000 customers in Louisiana that were out of power have now had their power restored. Around 680,000 customers across Louisiana are still without power, according to PowerOutage.us. Power is estimated to be restored to most of New Orleans by Wednesday, Sept. 8, but some areas of the city may be out of power until Sept. 25.
Even those that have generators to supply electricity until utilities are restored are starting to hit a wall with gas shortages, which are making the commodity scarce in some communities. In addition to gasoline supplies running low, oil spills have been reported across the region, which could lead to gasoline production issues down the road.
Jerilyn Collins returns to her destroyed home with the assistance of the Louisiana National Guard to retrieve medicine for herself and her father, and a few possessions, after she evacuated from rising floodwater in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in LaPlace, La., Monday, Aug. 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
On Sunday, divers in the Gulf Coast identified a pipeline that was the source of an oil spill that emerged after the hurricane and is ongoing, according to The Associated Press. Talos Energy, a Houston-based company, is paying for the cleanup of the oil spill, despite saying that the pipeline does not belong to them. The oil spill has not yet affected the Louisiana coastline and remains out at sea.
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Until the infrastructure is rebuilt, Louisianans are left to clean up and survive post-Ida amid the typical summer heat with AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures topping out in the 90s F each afternoon.
The City of New Orleans is providing some pet-friendly cooling centers, allowing residents to get a break from the afternoon heat and be able to charge up their phones and other hand-held devices.
However, even once power has been restored, the thought of the next storm will be lingering in the back of the mind of many across the region.
Louisiana was hit by four named tropical systems during the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, including Tropical Storm Cristobal, Hurricane Delta, Hurricane Laura and Hurricane Zeta. The latter two storms were both major hurricanes when they barreled ashore.
This season has already featured two landfalling storms in Louisiana, including Tropical Storm Claudette in June and now Hurricane Ida, and Gulf Coast residents like Kaylee Ordoyne are running out of options if another storm strikes.
“If I would have had the money to evacuate, I would have — for my babies,” Ordoyne told the AP. “I’m so worried sick about what will be next.”
For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com Watch AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, AT&T TV NOW, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeatherNOW is streaming on Roku and XUMO.
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News / Hurricane
'Road ahead of us is a long one': Louisiana still in shock almost 1 week after Ida
By Brian Lada, AccuWeather meteorologist
Updated Sep 5, 2021 3:12 PM EST
Hurricane Ida made landfall on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, but AccuWeather meteorologists say it had more similarities to another storm.
Nearly a week after Ida crashed into the Louisiana coast as a powerful Category 4 storm, President Joe Biden paid a visit to the state to tour the damage and visit with some of the survivors and officials who are working around the clock.
On Friday, Biden addressed reporters in LaPlace, Louisiana. Because many people are still without phone and internet service, Biden said people representing the government and FEMA will go door to door to make sure impacted residents know what resources are available to them. Crew members from 32 states have been helping to restore power in the state, two of which have died.
"We've been working together to deliver millions of meals and liters of water," Biden said.
Biden said so far, the government has provided $100 million in critical assistance for the residents of Louisiana by sending $500 directly to their bank accounts. Biden asked those who have been impacted and are still in need of federal assistance to visit disasterassistance.gov or call 1-800-621-FEMA.
"Hurricane Ida is another reminder that we need to be prepared for the next hurricane, and superstorms are going to come -- and they're going to come more frequently and more ferociously," Biden said.
Based on its maximum sustained winds of 150 mph at landfall, Ida was the seventh-strongest hurricane on record to strike the United States. It also made landfall exactly 16 years after Hurricane Katrina, although the two storms were far from identical.
The death toll continued to tick upward with at least 14 deaths being blamed on Ida in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, according to The Associated Press.
Among those are four nursing home residents who were evacuated to a warehouse with 839 others from nursing homes. After being transported to the warehouse, conditions were found to be unsafe and unhealthy. An investigation has been launched into the decision to transport hundreds of nursing home residents to this facility.
“We thought they would have been better taken care of,” Renetta Derosia said, according to the AP. Derosia stopped by the warehouse on Thursday to visit her mother and to see how she was fairing in the wake of Ida. “Had I known, I would have taken her with us.”
Several deaths in the South were attributed to carbon monoxide poisoning amid the long-duration power outage and generator use, the AP reported.
Ida’s death toll was even higher in the Northeast as the tropical rainstorm unloaded record-challenging rain and severe weather across parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Connecticut. At least 51 deaths were reported in the Northeast in relation to Ida as of Friday morning, and officials expect that toll to climb as the door-to-door search continues.
Thousands of residents who evacuated Louisiana ahead of Ida’s arrival have yet to return home in the storm’s wake. Commercial flights by Delta resumed at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport on Thursday after days of suspended operation, a sign of slow recovery in the area. However, displaced residents that return home now may still be without water or power for days as crews work long hours every day to restore services across the region.
“The road ahead of us is a long one, but I’m proud of the progress we’ve made,” New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said on Thursday. “Our focus remains on providing critical needs to our people.”
In a Saturday update from Entergy, 282,000 of the more than 900,000 customers in Louisiana that were out of power have now had their power restored. Around 680,000 customers across Louisiana are still without power, according to PowerOutage.us. Power is estimated to be restored to most of New Orleans by Wednesday, Sept. 8, but some areas of the city may be out of power until Sept. 25.
Even those that have generators to supply electricity until utilities are restored are starting to hit a wall with gas shortages, which are making the commodity scarce in some communities. In addition to gasoline supplies running low, oil spills have been reported across the region, which could lead to gasoline production issues down the road.
Jerilyn Collins returns to her destroyed home with the assistance of the Louisiana National Guard to retrieve medicine for herself and her father, and a few possessions, after she evacuated from rising floodwater in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in LaPlace, La., Monday, Aug. 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
On Sunday, divers in the Gulf Coast identified a pipeline that was the source of an oil spill that emerged after the hurricane and is ongoing, according to The Associated Press. Talos Energy, a Houston-based company, is paying for the cleanup of the oil spill, despite saying that the pipeline does not belong to them. The oil spill has not yet affected the Louisiana coastline and remains out at sea.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
Until the infrastructure is rebuilt, Louisianans are left to clean up and survive post-Ida amid the typical summer heat with AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures topping out in the 90s F each afternoon.
The City of New Orleans is providing some pet-friendly cooling centers, allowing residents to get a break from the afternoon heat and be able to charge up their phones and other hand-held devices.
However, even once power has been restored, the thought of the next storm will be lingering in the back of the mind of many across the region.
Louisiana was hit by four named tropical systems during the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, including Tropical Storm Cristobal, Hurricane Delta, Hurricane Laura and Hurricane Zeta. The latter two storms were both major hurricanes when they barreled ashore.
This season has already featured two landfalling storms in Louisiana, including Tropical Storm Claudette in June and now Hurricane Ida, and Gulf Coast residents like Kaylee Ordoyne are running out of options if another storm strikes.
“If I would have had the money to evacuate, I would have — for my babies,” Ordoyne told the AP. “I’m so worried sick about what will be next.”
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For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com Watch AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, AT&T TV NOW, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeatherNOW is streaming on Roku and XUMO.
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