The southern Louisiana regions continue Ida’s recovery efforts.
A flood clock has been released for New Orleans until Monday night, as Louisiana continues on its path to recovery after the disastrous touchdown of Hurricane Ida.
Some regions of southern Louisiana could see two to four inches of heavy rain, threatening neighborhoods that were still picking up pieces from one of the strongest hurricanes on record to affect the state.
Ida killed at least 11 people in Louisiana and initially left nearly a million without electricity, as it threw more than 13 inches of rain in some communities. According to local utility company Entergy, Ida damaged or destroyed more than 14,000 poles, 2,223 transformers and 155 transmission structures.
Now, half a million customers are left without electricity more than a week later, according to PowerOutage.us.
The region also experiences warm and humid conditions, with temperatures reaching 90. The humidity will make it feel more or less 95 to 100 degrees, which will force the city to warn of the heat, as residents do not they have the power to operate air conditioners.
There are also several waterless regions and some have been subjected to boiling water warnings, while other homes are suffering from structural damage. Power lines and trees in southern Louisiana were blown away by the 172 mph winds of the hurricane.
While rapid flooding could hamper recovery efforts, the storm that is occurring south of the gulf is not expected to become a tropical cyclone as it crosses the Gulf of Mexico. Still, officials are telling residents to be alert.
The National Meteorological Service warns residents to move to higher ground, to be cautious at night when it is more difficult to recognize the dangers of flooding, and to never drive their car into flood waters.
President Joe Biden visited Ida-damaged regions on Friday, linking the destruction of Ida to climate change and urging reconstruction efforts to take into account the growing impact of environmental disasters.
“Things are changing so drastically when it comes to the environment,” the president said. “We’ve already crossed certain thresholds. We can’t rebuild a road, a highway, a bridge or anything until it was before. I mean, you have to rebuild what is now, what is needed now.”