Louisiana, United States.
Tens of thousands of residents of New Orleans and the Louisiana coastal area are evacuating the region this Saturday before the onslaught of Ida“Predicted to Become a Hurricane”extremely dangerous“, With sustained winds of up to 140 miles per hour (225 km / h), before hitting land in the US this Sunday.
With the memory of what happened just 16 years ago with the Hurricane Katrina, Which ravaged the city, thousands of citizens of New Orleans they pile up on the northbound highways as authorities warn of the danger posed by the fast going forward, Which takes strength in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico after leaving behind Cuba.
The departure of thousands of people from the coastal area has caused significant delays this Saturday and has already begun to run out of fuel at numerous points in New Orleans and the rest of a region where the curfew has been decreed in the parish of Terrebonne, which is in the possible trajectory of Ida.
What will be the first hurricane to make landfall in the US so far this season in the Atlantic account is already less than 350 miles (565 km) southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, and is expected to reach the U.S. coast on Sunday afternoon or evening. as category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, of a maximum of 5 and which measures hurricanes as a function of the strength of their winds.
But its greatest danger is water and, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), a “devastating” cyclonic swell could raise the normal sea level to 15 feet (4.5 meters) in the area of the mouth of the Mississippi.
The National Meteorological Service a New Orleans warns that cyclonic swell, along with gusts of wind as strong as 150 miles per hour (240 km / h), can leave “uninhabitable” regions of southeast Louisiana, Due to the “structural damage” that buildings can suffer, “many of which will be dragged down.”
To this should be added large and dangerous waves and large amounts of rain, with accumulations of up to 20 inches (50 centimeters) in southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi until Monday.
all this could cause flooding and flooding in this region, Warned the experts, who anticipated that tornadoes could be recorded from Sunday until Monday morning in this same area.
mandatory evacuation
The mayoress of the city, LaToya Cantrell, Ordered this Friday the mandatory evacuation of people living outside the system of dikes that protect the city from possible floods, And the rest advised them to also leave the area or seek protection.
And this Saturday Cantrell said in a press conference that the decision to stay or evacuate must be made. “immediately“Since the”time is not on the side“Citizenship and Ida will arrive very soon, and they must all be ready before tonight.
No less resounding was the governor of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards, Who has warned on several occasions that he has already started the countdown to evacuate and that residents have until this Saturday evening to be prepared for the arrival of Ida, which he anticipates will have “serious impacts“In the state.
Edwards has already requested the statement of the state of emergency, Which was soon accepted by President Joe Biden to be able to assist with federal funds and media in the region.
Katrina in memory
Considered one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Hurricane Katrina caused in 2005 the death of 1,833 people and the displacement of almost a million inhabitants, when losing their properties.
The city, built between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, It was almost completely flooded when the dams of this lake were broken by the strong winds caused by the Katrina, Which arrived on August 29, 2005 as Category 3, while Ida is expected to be Force 4.
But now local authorities hope that the multimillion-dollar investment made in the water containment and pumping system will prevent a possible tragedy just the same day, 16 years later. And they say that New Orleans it is a “very different city in terms of security and infrastructure” in relation to what it was 16 years ago.
Louisiana is a region accustomed to the onslaught of these powerful tropical storms. Ida it also comes almost a year after Laura touched down on August 27, 2020 as the strongest hurricane recorded in this state, With winds of 150 miles per hour (240 km / h), and left about 40 dead in the US
Now it comes Ida, Which previously went through Cuba this Friday, when it hit land as a Category 1 hurricane and crossed the country at its western end without any fatalities being reported so far.