16 years ago “Katrina” devastated the region, now the south of the USA fears the effects of the hurricane “Ida”. The storm became weaker in the course of the night, but remained life-threatening.
New Orleans – After Hurricane Ida, the city of New Orleans has urged citizens who had sought safety elsewhere from the storm not to return yet.
There is no electricity and no basic supply in the city, and many streets are full of rubble, the city’s operations center said on Monday on Twitter. In capital letters it said, “Don’t come back.”
More than 400,000 people live in New Orleans. The city has been without electricity since hurricane “Ida” on Sunday. Authorities representatives hope that at least some of the eight high-voltage lines that lead into the city can soon be repaired.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said he firmly believed the death toll would rise “significantly” as the day wore on. “The damage is really catastrophic.” The storm raged for hours with wind speeds of around 200 kilometers per hour, as the National Hurricane Center (NHC) explained.
The storm brought back bad memories, as it reached Louisiana exactly 16 years to the day after the devastating hurricane “Katrina” hit, which killed around 1,800 people in and around New Orleans.
Reconstruction will take weeks, the governor told NBC on Monday morning (local time). The rescue and recovery operations started slowly because so many roads are impassable due to the rubble. He also emphasized that it was very gratifying that the flood protection system in New Orleans, which had been built after the destruction by “Katrina” in 2005, had held up. He hopes that electricity will be restored “soon,” at least in parts of New Orleans, Edwards said.
The numerous overturned power poles initially posed a particular danger. In many areas, the emergency call centers were overloaded. The authorities called on citizens to boil their tap water before drinking because of flooding.
The head of the US civil protection agency Fema, Deanne Criswell, told CNN in the morning that there were reports of buildings that may have collapsed and that a number of hospitals were running on emergency generators. “Ida” not only hit land as an “extremely dangerous level four hurricane”, but also remained such a storm for hours.
A “monster storm”
Some media called “Ida” a “monster storm” because the strength of its gusts doubled in an “explosive” way within 24 hours, according to meteorologists. As the night wore on, the hurricane subsided and the National Hurricane Center downgraded it to a tropical storm. “Ida” moved as a tropical storm in a northeasterly direction over Louisiana on Monday and was supposed to reach the neighboring state of Mississippi in the afternoon.
Photos and videos in local media showed houses that were under water in the coastal areas, roads that swelled into rivers, covered houses and numerous uprooted trees and broken electricity pylons. For safety reasons, the important oil production in the region has also been partially shut down.
In the town of Galliano, the storm tore off parts of the roof of a hospital. But nobody was injured. The clinics in the region are currently well utilized with corona patients in view of the spread of the delta variant, it said.
“We have seen floods and storms before. But I’ve never seen so much water, ”reported Tim Kerner, the mayor of Jean Lafitte CNN. “Ida” completely devastated his community. Since a vehicle swept away by the water destroyed a bridge, 200 to 300 residents were stuck.
National Guard activated
Louisiana’s Governor Edwards activated the National Guard with around 5,000 soldiers and mobilized hundreds of salvage experts. In addition, thousands of workers were ready to restore the power supply. Low-lying areas southwest of the city of New Orleans, for which evacuation orders had previously been issued, were particularly hard hit. The first reports of severe damage also came from the small town of Houma further north with around 30,000 inhabitants, which was directly in the path of the storm.
In the Prairieville community, a person was fatally injured by a falling tree, the local sheriff’s office announced on Facebook on Sunday evening. It is said to be a 60-year-old, media reported. The place is southeast of Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana. In addition, more than a million customers in the state and in neighboring Mississippi were without electricity, according to data from the website poweroutage.us.
The power also failed in the entire city of New Orleans, as the operations center announced. “The only electricity in the city comes from generators,” they said. Most of New Orleans’ approximately 400,000 residents had to make do with candles, flashlights, or gas lamps – or to endure in the dark. There was no good news from the responsible electricity company Entergy: The hurricane damaged all eight lines responsible for supplying electricity to the city.
President Joe Biden declared Louisiana a disaster as the state requested. This means that federal funds can be released for reconstruction and support, as the White House announced. Billions of dollars have been invested in flood protection in the region since “Katrina”.
Biden had previously visited the headquarters of the US civil protection agency Fema in Washington. He promised the people the support of the government. “As soon as the storm is over, we will use all the power of this country for rescue and reconstruction.” The Fema agency flew hundreds of helpers and supplies – including millions of meals, drinking water and dozens of generators – into the region. Dozens of ambulances and several medical aircraft were also provided. The Coast Guard stationed numerous helicopters and boats for rescue operations. The US military was also preparing for an aid mission. dpa
