The rescue and clean-up work after Hurricane “Ida” is ongoing, but hundreds of thousands continue to suffer from massive power outages in the southern United States. Police are also investigating reports of an alligator attack in the flood area.
New Orleans – Because of the massive power outages after Hurricane “Ida” in the southern US state of Louisiana, the city of New Orleans has temporarily imposed a night curfew.
Mayor Latoya Cantrell announced on Tuesday (local time) that this will apply from 8 p.m. in the evening to 6 a.m. in the morning. The police justified the move with public safety.
So far, four deaths have been reported in Louisiana and the neighboring state of Mississippi as a result of the storm. In view of the great damage, the authorities feared that the number of victims could increase. In the flood area, according to the media, helpers are also looking for a man who is said to have been attacked by an alligator.
“Ida” hit the Louisiana coast southwest of New Orleans on Sunday as a dangerous four-of-five hurricane. Meanwhile, he weakened to the tropical low and moved via Mississippi to Tennessee on, as the National Hurricane Center (NHC) announced on Wednesday night.
Because of the widespread power outage in New Orleans, it is currently not safe on the streets at night, it said. The police also want to prevent looting. On Wednesday morning (local time) the lights went on again for at least some households. The utility Entergy said that customers in the east of the city would be supplied with electricity again. The complete restoration of the supply will take some time in view of the considerable damage in the entire region.
The blackout hits the city during the summer heat of all times, when most of the approximately 400,000 residents depend on electrical air conditioning. Temperatures around 30 degrees were expected in the city, but because of the high humidity it could feel like 40 degrees, it said. Citizens could cool off at various locations and in parked air-conditioned buses. Across Louisiana, around one million households were still without electricity because of the storm damage.
Long queues formed at gas stations in many places. People patiently stood in line with canisters to get gasoline for generators at the pumps because the power went out in the region. Elsewhere, photos showed dozens of cars waiting in long lines to fill their tanks. Many gas stations in the region were closed – either because of storm damage or because they lacked the electricity to pump the gasoline. In addition, many streets were still blocked by rubble, which is why petrol stations could hardly get replenishment.
A man has been missing since Monday near the village of Slidell, who is said to have been attacked by an alligator and seriously injured. As the local sheriff’s office announced, the 71-year-old’s wife reported that the animal attacked him while he was walking through the flood water in the vicinity of her home. An investigation is ongoing. According to the woman, her husband wanted to check something in the shed, police spokesman Lance Vitter told the local newspaper “The Times-Picayune”.
The woman was therefore still able to pull the man out of the water. She then set off in a boat to get help. When she returned with the police, the 71-year-old had disappeared. The search was ongoing, it was said. The house is located in a swamp area where alligators live. A fire department spokesman also reported on the incident in USA Today and NBC News. Sheriff Randy Smith called on residents to be extra vigilant in the flooded areas as wildlife could approach residential areas as a result of the storm. dpa
