/ 30 August 2021

Ida know why you’d hit New Orleans again…

1000

Sixteen years ago, Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on New Orleans, killing 1,833 people and inflicted more than $100 billion in damage. On the anniversary, Hurricane Ida – one of the most powerful systems to hit the area since then – has made landfall south of the city at Port Fourchon as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 240km/hour. Authorities are expecting storm surges (the rise in the seawater level during a storm) in the order of 3.5-4.8 metres, making it the most significant test of the 560km of levees, floodwalls, pumps and gates that were built across the area to protect it from big storms. Across the weekend, state officials told residents to evacuate or take shelter, with Governor John Bel Edwards saying “this will be one of the strongest hurricanes to hit anywhere in Louisiana since at least the 1850s.” Yikes… You can track its path here.

Image source: AP

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