Hurricane Ida is rapidly gaining strength Saturday over the unusually warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and is predicted to hit southeastern Louisiana as an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm on Sunday evening, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Why it matters: This storm has the potential to cause catastrophic damage from high winds, nearly two feet of rain and up to 15 feet of storm surge inundation. New Orleans is likely to see significant impacts, including hurricane-force winds and a storm surge that could test the city's post-Hurricane Katrina flood protection system.
The latest: As of 5 p.m. ET, Hurricane Ida was located about 240 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, or about 325 miles south-southeast of New Orleans. It was moving northwest at 16 mph and had maximum sustained winds of 105 mph.
Threat level: After hitting Cuba Friday night, Ida paused its intensification for a time, but resumed its alarming trends Saturday morning. ...
- In many ways, Hurricane Ida is a worst-case scenario: A storm traversing extremely warm water in an area conducive to strengthening, headed for a state that is extremely vulnerable to storm surge flooding.
- To make matters worse, Louisiana is already in the midst of a COVID-19 surge, with hospitals lacking extra capacity should serious injuries occur. For example, the state chose not to evacuate patients inland from coastal hospitals, per AP reports.
- Hurricane and storm surge warnings are in effect for the length of the Louisiana coast, with the highest surge levels — which refers to the storm-driven amount of water vaulted above normally dry land — of 10 to 15 feet occurring