Hurricane Ida set to make landfall in Louisiana on Sunday

Hurricane Ida is forecast to intensify before it makes landfall in Louisiana on Sunday afternoon. The storm could bring heavy rains and winds as high as 130 kmph. The National Hurricane Center on Saturday issued a warning that Ida’s destructive power would rapidly magnify due to the super-warm Gulf waters. The hurricane has also been upgraded from a category 2 to a category 4 storm. A category 4 storm is one that is considered extremely dangerous.

“This will be a life-altering storm for those who aren’t prepared,” National Weather Service meteorologist Benjamin Schott said during a Friday news conference with Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards.

People across the Gulf of Mexico coast are bracing up for the storm. On Saturday, there was heavy traffic on the coastal highways with people moving to escape the storm.

Also read: Hurricane Ida threatens havoc on US’ energy-heavy Gulf Coast economy

A mandatory evacuation has been ordered in some parts of New Orleans by Mayor LaToya Cantrell. Cantrell said that the storm was intensifying rapidly, and it was not possible to order a mandatory evacuation for the entire city.

“The city cannot order a mandatory evacuation because we don’t have the time,” Cantrell said.

The city officials have also warned residents of long power outages and asked them to stay prepared. Elderly residents have been advised to evacuate. Collin Arnold, the city’s emergency management director, said the city could be under high winds for about ten hours.

The storm is forecast to hit on the exact same date as Hurricane Katrina did 16 years earlier. Katrina devastated a large part of the Gulf Coast. A Category 3 storm, Katrina was blamed for 1,800 deaths and caused levee breaches and catastrophic flooding in New Orleans, which took years to recover.

Also read: The differences between Hurricanes Ida and Katrina

“With a direct hit, ain’t no telling what’s going to be left — if anything. Anybody that isn’t concerned has got something wrong with them,” Ross Eichorn, a fishing guide told AP.

In Washington, President Joe Biden on Saturday called Ida “very dangerous” and urged Americans “to pay attention and be prepared.”