Residents across Louisiana’s coast Saturday were taking one last day to prepare for what is being described as a “life-altering” Hurricane Ida; which is expected to bring winds as high as 225 km/h when it slams ashore. Evacuations have been called for cities and communities across the region, including New Orleans.
A combination of voluntary and mandatory evacuations have been called for cities and communities across the region including New Orleans; where the mayor ordered a mandatory evacuation for areas outside the city’s levee system; and a voluntary evacuation for residents inside the levee system. But since the storm quickly escalated in intensity, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said; it wasn’t possible to order a mandatory evacuation for the entire city; which would require using all lanes of some highways to leave the city.
According to Cbc, The storm is expected to make landfall on the exact date Hurricane Katrina devastated a large swath of the Gulf Coast 16 years earlier. But whereas Katrina was a Category 3 when it made landfall southwest of New Orleans; Hurricane Ida is expected to reach an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane, with top winds of 225 km/h; before making landfall likely west of New Orleans late Sunday.
