Ida is reinforced in a Category 3 hurricane overnight
Hurricane Ida strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane overnight on Sunday with sustained maximum winds near 115 mph as it approached Louisiana.
Ida is expected to continue to strengthen rapidly in an “extremely dangerous” storm, probably a Category 4 in the next twelve years before it reaches the United States.
A rapid weakening is expected after the landslide, the National Hurricane Center said in an update.
Louisiana hospitals were filled with coronavirus patients before Hurricane Ida
Many Louisiana hospitals already have an excess of coronavirus patients in the midst of a wave in the state and ahead of the expected arrival of Hurricane Ida on Sunday.
The hurricane is expected to become a “dangerous” Category 4 storm and could further stress already crowded hospitals.
The daily amounts of new cases rose from a few hundred a day for much of spring and early summer to thousands a day in late July. Across the state, hospitalizations had peaked at 2,000 or less in three previous rises. But that number peaked at more than 3,000 in August. The figure reported on Saturday was close to 2,700, still high enough to stress hospitals.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
As Hurricane Ida moves rapidly toward the Gulf Coast, Nora could affect the southwest
As Hurricane Ida moves rapidly toward the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Nora hovered over the eastern Pacific Ocean on Saturday.
According to the National Hurricane Center, the storm was located approximately 230 miles south of Cabo Corrientes, Mexico and shifted to the northwest at about 12 mph.
The center of the storm is expected to reach the southwest coast of Mexico later Saturday before passing near the coast of the states of Jalisco and Nayarit.
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Ida was ready to attack Louisiana 16 years after Hurricane Katrina
Sixteen years after the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that struck New Orleans in 2005, Hurricane Ida will set against the city on Sunday as a “dangerous” Category 4 storm.
Katrina devastated the coasts of Mississippi and Louisiana. A Category 3 storm, Katrina was blamed for 1,800 deaths and caused breakwaters and catastrophic flooding in New Orleans. The city has not yet fully recovered.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.