Ida makes landfall as 'extremely dangerous' category four storm - National Hurricane Center

Ida makes landfall as ‘extremely dangerous’ category four storm – National Hurricane Center

Aug 29, 2021

Hurricane Ida has made landfall in Louisiana as an “extremely dangerous” category four storm.

The National Hurricane Center said it had struck near Port Fourchon with maximum sustained winds of 150mph at around 11.55am local time (5.55pm UK time).

Hurricane Ida makes landfall – follow live updates

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Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes in anticipation of the storm’s arrival, with roads from New Orleans blocked by miles upon miles of traffic – but by 10.30am local time, those who were yet to evacuate in some parts of the state were told to shelter in place.

“The time to evacuate has passed,” authorities in Thibodaux said, with a curfew enforced until further notice.

Ahead of Ida making landfall, sustained winds of 43mph and a top speed gust of 67mph were also reported at Lakefront Airport in New Orleans.

In Shell Beach, Louisiana, the water level was reported as 6.4ft higher than average, and Bay Waveland Yacht Club, Mississippi, saw its water level up 5.5ft.

It is the toughest test yet for the hundreds of miles of new levees built around New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall 16 years ago to the day.

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Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said Ida could be the state’s worst direct hit by a hurricane since the 1850s.

The state is also dealing with the nation’s third-highest rate of new COVID-19 infections, with about 3,400 new cases reported on Friday alone.

Hospitals were treating some 2,450 COVID-19 patients, Gov Edwards said, with those in many of the state’s parishes already nearing capacity.

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