Residents in these cities urged to seek higher ground
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.
A New Orleans news station’s roof was damaged in the hurricane
From CNN’s Paul P. Murphy
After its roof was damaged by Hurricane Ida’s winds, local New Orleans news station WGNO had to partially evacuate its newsroom and studio as water began coming through the ceiling.
WGNO said that, “water came through the roof Sunday after whipping winds from Hurricane Ida caused serious damage to the building that houses WGNO’s studios.”
The water and roof damage, the station said, did not affect their coverage of the storm.
A photo posted on Twitter by WGNO reporter Chris Welty shows that the sky is visible in one place where the ceiling has collapsed.
National Weather Service urges residents in these 2 Louisiana parishes to seek higher ground
From CNN’s Michael Guy
A flash flood emergency has been issued for St. Charles Parish and St. John The Baptist Parish in Louisiana until 1:30 a.m. ET.
Heavy rainfall of 6 to 10 inches has fallen with additional amounts of 4 to 6 inches more expected.
“Life-threatening flash flooding is occurring, and this is a particularly dangerous situation”, according to the National Weather Service in New Orleans. “Residents are urged to seek higher ground now.”
St. John the Baptist Parish is being inundated with 911 calls for rescues because of flooding
From CNN’s Paul P. Murphy
St. John the Baptist Parish is being inundated with 911 calls for rescues because of flooding from Hurricane Ida, parish communications director Baileigh Helm told CNN.
Helm says that first responders are still unable to go out and respond to rescue calls because weather conditions remain poor.
Nearly 1 million customers are without power as Ida keeps moving inland
From CNN’s Joe Sutton
As Hurricane Ida continues to slowly move across Louisiana, numerous customers are without power this evening in two states.
There are now 968,521 customers in Louisiana and Mississippi without power, according to PowerOutage.US. The vast majority of them are in Louisiana:
- Louisiana — 941,121 customers
- Mississippi — 27,400 customers
Power outages are expected to continue increasing as the storm moves inland.
Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_topstories/~3/xZRv_ViuFRg/h_a9d65d265eed47b2d415cc750497be2d
