Peter Clark
@Peter.Clark · Posted 01 Sep. 2021

Hurricane Ida is an active tropical storm that has become the second most intense hurricane to hit Louisiana on record, second only to Hurricane Katrina, and tied for the strongest landfalls in the state with Hurricane Laura in 2020 and the 1856 Last Island hurricane. Tornado warnings are in effect for the next several days, according to the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center.  The Hurricane Ida news reports that it has become a tropical storm with sustained winds of 60 miles per hour. Throughout Monday, flash floods will be the most serious risk, but storm surges, damaging winds, and tornadoes will also pose a threat. Morgan City to Grand Isle in Louisiana is no longer under a storm surge warning. The hurricane and tropical storm warnings are no longer in effect east of Grand Isle, Louisiana. All of the areas under hurricane warning currently have tropical storm warnings. The National Hurricane Center said Hurricane Ida made landfall earlier Sunday as a Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph winds. It was the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The center of Ida was about 25 miles south-southwest of New Orleans at 10 p.m. ET, and it had winds of 110 mph. Approximately 10 mph was its speed as it moved northwest. The National Hurricane Center said parts of two states were inundated with storm surge, strong winds, heavy rain, and flash flooding courtesy of a destructive storm. On Sunday evening, poweroutage.us reported that Hurricane Ida had left more than 993,000 Louisiana residents without electricity. There may be power outages for weeks for some Energy Louisiana customers. An outage website said 31,000 Mississippi customers lost power as a result of the outer bands of the storm. As of early Sunday morning, the storm's peak winds were 150 mph, with the possibility of reaching catastrophic levels before landfall. Several other cities along the northern Gulf Coast and hundreds of miles inland are also at risk from the extremely dangerous hurricane that the National Hurricane Center predicts will hit New Orleans on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans may be battered by hurricane-force winds at the core of the storm as Hurricane ida path turns east. Studies have shown a stronger likelihood of tropical storms because of an increase in sea surface temperatures caused by climate change.