Dozens of patients to be moved after Louisiana health centers damaged
Dozens of patients to be moved after Louisiana health centers damaged
From CNN’s Joe Sutton
Roof and water leaks at some Ochsner Health System facilities in Louisiana mean dozens of patients will have to be relocated, officials said.
Ochsner Health Chief Operating Officer Mike Hulefeld said all 21 patients in St. Anne Hospital in Raceland would be removed, as well as 45 patients at the Chabert Medical Center in Houma.
“We will have to move some patients sometime early tomorrow morning, late tonight or early tomorrow morning, probably 3, 4 or 5 o’clock tomorrow morning,” Ochsner Health President and CEO Warner Thomas said.
With the ongoing power outage in New Orleans, the Ochsner Medical Center on Jefferson Highway is now using well water, Thomas added.
“I’ve never seen water like this in my life,” Jean Lafitte mayor says
From CNN’s Paul Murphy and Keith Allen
The Louisiana town of Jean Lafitte has been “totally devastated” by Hurricane Ida, with rescuers unable to reach hundreds of stranded residents after a vehicle wiped out a bridge, Mayor Tim Kerner Jr. told CNN.
“We have a bunch of people trapped that we can’t get to, one being the wind, we can’t put boats in the water, it’s just too rough, it would be life-threatening for the person operating the boat at this time. We tried to do high water trucks, we can’t get through the water,” Kerner said.
Kerner said the majority of the community of 1,500 people, on Bayou Barataria in Jefferson Parish, about 30 miles south of New Orleans, had been evacuated. But “we have about 300 people, 200 people still there,” he added.
“We’ve suffered flooding before. We suffered storms before. But I’ve never seen water like this in my life. It just hit us in the worst way possible and it was such a massive storm that it just totally devastated us,” Kerner said.
More than 1 million customers are without power in Louisiana
From CNN’s Joe Sutton
More than 1 million customers in Louisiana are without power, according to monitoring site PowerOutage.US.
As of 12:47 a.m. ET, power outages had hit 1,006,861 customers in the wake of Hurricane Ida.
In neighboring Mississippi, 48,515 customers are without power.
Now a Category 1 hurricane, Ida slowly weakens
From CNN’s Michael Guy
Hurricane Ida continues to slowly weaken with sustained winds now at 95 mph, which is a high-end Category 1 hurricane.
Damaging hurricane-force winds continue with a gust up to 111 mph measured by a station in Mandeville, Louisiana.
The storm is currently located about 5 miles west of Killian, Louisiana, and 30 miles east-southeast of Baton Rouge.
National Weather Service urges residents in these Louisiana cities to seek higher ground
From CNN’s Michael Guy
A flash flood emergency has been issued for the Louisiana cities of Hammond, Tickfaw and Ponchatoula until 1 a.m. ET.
As much as 5 to 9 inches of rain has already fallen in Hammond — and another 4 to 8 inches is expected.
“Life-threatening flash flooding is ongoing and will continue to get worse,” the National Weather Service in New Orleans said. “This is a particularly dangerous situation, and residents are urged to seek higher ground now.”
President Biden declares major disaster in Louisiana
From CNN’s Gregory Clary
President Joe Biden has approved the state of Louisiana’s request for a major federal disaster declaration.
Biden’s action makes federal funding available to affected individuals in 25 parishes, according to a White House statement Sunday.
“Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster,” the statement said.
The move by the White House also makes federal funding available to state, tribal and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for debris removal and hazard mitigation measures statewide.
People are trapped in flood waters in LaPlace, Louisiana, National Weather Service warns
The National Weather Service in New Orleans is warning that very heavy rain in LaPlace, Louisiana, from Ida’s eyewall is causing flash flooding that has trapped residents.
“Reports coming in of people trapped in homes in LaPlace,” the NWS said in the Flash Flood Emergency that was issued for the location. “Water completely surrounding a hotel. Numerous people requesting to be rescued,” the alert said.
Between 6 and 12 inches of rain have fallen with Ida’s passage, and 4 to 6 inches more are possible in the area.
Here’s where Ida is now — and where the storm is going next
Ida remains a category 2 hurricane with winds of 105 mph as it continues to push northward through Louisiana, according to the National Hurricane Center’s 11 p.m. ET update.
Ida is now about 30 miles east-southeast of Baton Rouge and 40 miles west northwest of New Orleans.
Here’s a look at the storm’s latest forecast path:
New Orleans won’t get power back tonight, energy provider says
From CNN’s Keith Allen
All of Orleans Parish, including the City of New Orleans, will remain in the dark Sunday night as crews continue to assess the damage caused by Hurricane Ida, regional energy provider Entergy said in a statement.
All eight transmission lines that deliver power into the city are out of service at this hour, according to Entergy.
This triggered “a load imbalance in the area and resulted in generation in the area coming offline,” the energy provider said.
Entergy has provided back-up generation to the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board but cautioned that power to the city will not be restored Sunday night.
Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_topstories/~3/ObCKZdeZ1ns/h_e7b8c99a9bdaad4b25d1d80ed71ea556
