Ida strengthens into Category 4 storm as it nears landfall

Outer bands from the storm are already making their way onshore across the Gulf Coast, impacting southeastern Louisiana, including New Orleans. An elevated weather station at Pilot’s Station East near Southwest Pass, Louisiana, recently reported a wind gust up to 107 mph, the NHC said.

A hurricane warning remains in effect from Intracoastal City, Louisiana, to the mouth of the Pearl River and includes Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas and New Orleans.

A tornado watch is in effect until 8 p.m. ET for parts of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi, according to the Storm Prediction Center. Quick-moving, brief tornadoes will be possible throughout Sunday.

There is also a danger of life-threatening storm surge inundation Sunday in areas along the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

If Ida makes landfall in Louisiana as forecast, it would be the fourth hurricane to slam the state since last August and Louisiana’s third major hurricane landfall in that time span.

“August 29 is an important date in history here,” Collin Arnold, director of the New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, told CNN Saturday. “A lot of people remember what happened 16 years ago. It’s time to hunker down tonight and be where you need to be.”

‘We’ll be in a much better place’ than 16 years ago

Hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005 as a Category 3 storm with 125 mph sustained winds. Storm surge with Katrina measured up to 24-28 feet, according to the NHC.

The water topped levees and flood walls, and more than 80% of New Orleans flooded. More than 1,500 people in Louisiana died.

Katrina brought storm surge of 15 to 19 feet in eastern New Orleans, St. Bernard Parish, and Plaquemines Parish, while the surge was 10 to 14 feet in western New Orleans along the southern shores of Lake Pontchartrain, according to the NHC.

By comparison, Hurricane Ida is forecast to bring a lower storm surge of 12-16 feet to some areas of southeast Louisiana, the NHC says. And near New Orleans it’s expected to be even lower: 8-12 feet outside New Orleans and 5-8 feet along Lake Pontchartrain.

That’s because the wind field was larger for Katrina: 90 miles from center at landfall, compared to 50 miles for Ida.

“This is a different city than it was August 28th 2005, in terms of infrastructure and safety,” Ramsey Green, New Orleans deputy chief administrative officer for infrastructure, told reporters Saturday at a News Conference ahead of Hurricane Ida’s landfall.

Green called the city’s levee system “an unprecedentedly powerful protection for the city,” which has three lines of defense: the coast, the wetlands and the levee system.

“From that perspective, we need to be comfortable and we need to know that we’ll be in a much better place than we were 16 years ago,” Green said. “That said, if we have 10 to 20 inches of rain over an abbreviated period of time, we will see flooding. We don’t know at this moment — we see 15 to 20 inches over 48 hours or less, and we can handle it, depending on the event.”

Schools and casinos closed, flights canceled

Officials throughout the state have implored people to evacuate, with some issuing mandatory orders to do so.

Arnold urged people to stock up on enough food and water for at least three days.

“We say the first 72 (hours) is on you,” Arnold said. “The first three days of this will be difficult for responders to get to you.”

The NWS warned of “structural damage to buildings, with many washing away” as well as winds that could bring “widespread power and communication outages.” Flooding rains could cause “numerous road and bridge closures with some weakened or washed out” along with “some structures becoming uninhabitable or washed away.”

In Mississippi, at least 15 school districts and universities will be closed Monday, with the majority of schools announcing plans to resume classes on Tuesday, pending the weather forecast.

Additionally, a dozen casinos along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast have shuttered ahead of the hurricane’s projected landfall. Most casinos closed by Saturday night and announced plans to reopen Tuesday.

Region prepares as landfall approaches

Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced Friday evening that the National Weather Service and Gov. John Bel Edwards had indicated there was no time to implement contraflow traffic, meaning the city could not issue a mandatory evacuation for areas inside the levee system.

Contraflow is when authorities use some lanes of traffic for travel in the opposite direction of what was intended so more vehicles can leave an area.

Cantrell on Saturday said that if people planned to voluntarily evacuate — which she recommended — it was time to go.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto said Friday that once the storm starts, people need to stay off the roads to protect first responders.

As the storm approached, mandatory evacuations were ordered for parts of at least seven Louisiana parishes as well as the towns of Grande Isle and Port Fourchon. Voluntary evacuations were issued in six parishes.

Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng urged on Saturday for residents in low-lying areas to evacuate before Hurricane Ida hits, as the expected storm surge is “unsurvivable.”

“I want to reiterate the storm surge that we are expecting is unsurvivable,” she said, adding that the storm is expected to linger over the area. “We need you to leave immediately.”