Hurricane Ida pummels Louisiana; power lines in New Orleans destroyed

Hurricane Ida pummels Louisiana; power lines in New Orleans destroyed

The hurricane centre warned that the storm could create "life-threatening situation"

Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana on Sunday as Category 4 storm destroying power lines in New Orleans as it caused "catastrophic transmission damage."

The storm hit on the same date as Hurricane Katrina which had wrecked Mississippi and Louisiana in 2005.

The hurricane packed wind speeds of 230 kph as it slowed down later was downgraded to Category 3 by Sunday evening.

The US National Hurricane Center(NHC) said: "Ida is a dangerous category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Rapid weakening is expected during the next day or so, however, Ida is forecast to remain a hurricane through late tonight."

The hurricane centre warned that the storm could create "life-threatening situation" even as showers and strong winds swept New Orleans before its arrival.

Hurricane Ida pummels Louisiana; power lines in New Orleans destroyed
Hurricane Isaias makes landfall in North Carolina

State governor John Bel Edwards asked people to remain in their houses until the storm passes warning that "coming days and weeks are going to be extremely difficult".

The weather department said rainfall of up to 25 to 46 centimetres is expected in southern Louisiana which has been hit hard by the storm.

Grand Isle, a town located in New Orleans was flooded as over 700,000 homes were cut off from electricity by Sunday evening as the storm hit.

Several people had evacuated to safer areas in New Orleans ahead of the storm with traffic congesting reported on the highways even as some left just before Ida made landfall.

The storm hit the southern state amid the coronavirus wave with hospitals already full of Covid patients.

Hurricane Katrina had hit Louisiana on August 29, 2005 leading to the death of at least 1,800 people as it caused billions of dollars in damages.

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