Hurricane Ida: 600,000 left without running water in Mississippi days post landfall

Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana on Sunday. The storm left thousands in the state and Mississippi without any electricity, tap water and very little gasoline. Four days after the landfall, about 600,000 people do not have running water in the southern states. 

The state Public Service Commission said about 989,000 homes and businesses, 44% of all state utility customers in southeast Louisiana, are still without power. In Mississippi, more than 30,000 customers still have no electricity.

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However, lights came back on for a fortunate few, some corner stores opened their doors and crews cleared fallen trees and debris from a growing number of roadways Wednesday. 

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said he was pleased that power had returned for some people, saying it was “critically important to show progress” after the storm. But he also acknowledged that much more work lay ahead.

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“I’m very mindful that it’s a start, and only a start,” he told a news conference.

The death toll rose to at least six. Emergency officials in nearby Terrebonne Parish took to Twitter to caution evacuees considering returning home that “there are no shelters, no electricity, very limited resources for food, gasoline and supplies and absolutely no medical services.”

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National Guard troops had handed out more than 141,000 meals, 143,000 liters (37,777 gallons) of water and more than 500 tarps in Louisiana as of Wednesday morning, according to Edwards’ office. In New Orleans, officials opened seven places where people could get a meal and sit in air conditioning. The city was also using 70 transit buses as cooling sites, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said.

With inputs from the Associated Press