Hurricane Ida Wreaks Havoc on Louisiana: Updates on Power Outage, Rescue Operations

Ida's devastation has killed at least two people, knocked down thousands of kilometers of electrical lines, and rendered 911 dispatch centers useless.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell said in a news conference Monday that one person died in a car during the flooding in New Orleans. In addition, a fallen tree killed one person in Ascension Parish, according to officials.

Residents in New Orleans and other southeast Louisiana have been advised not to return until further notice because rescuers are still trying to reach those stranded in their houses.

After the hurricane, more than 1 million households and businesses in Louisiana were without electricity, including the entire city of New Orleans, which suffered catastrophic damage to its transformers. Millions of people were left in the dark as a result.

Schools' Closed

According to a list provided by WDSU, public schools in New Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Tammany, St. Bernard, Terrebonne, Lafourche, and St. Charles parishes are closed until further notice. Schools in Jefferson Parish will be closed until at least Wednesday, while schools in St. Johns Parish will be shuttered until at least Thursday.

Rescue Operations

Despite rescue boats arriving Monday, some residents are opting to stay in the flooded southern Louisiana hamlet of Lafitte, Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng told the Weather Channel Monday afternoon.

Sheng said she wasn't sure if all of the people who had expressly requested assistance had been reached, but rescuers continued to remove anyone who wanted to go. They hadn't gone door to door or entered any flooded homes yet. "This will carry on until everyone is found, maybe to the point where they'll have to break into some homes," says the narrator, "Sheng said. "It'll be a long process, and it won't be finished today."

Hurricane Ida Making Landfall

Hurricane Ida wreaked havoc on southeast Louisiana, with one gust along with the coast ranking among the nation's strongest for any hurricane.

Ida made landfall in Louisiana on Sunday as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 150 miles per hour, making it the highest-end Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

Winds were measured as Ida's core moved onshore, and they were relatively strong. Instruments on a ship near Port Fourchon, roughly 60 miles south-southwest of New Orleans, recorded a high wind gust of 172 mph when Hurricane Ida pounded the Louisiana coast.

That's only a smidgeon shy of the greatest hurricane wind ever recorded in the United States. After being down for hours due to a major routing facility failure, New Orleans' 911 service was fully functioning late Monday afternoon. However, emergency services were still being disrupted in several other parishes.

Wreaking Havoc

Some of the devastations along the Louisiana Gulf Coast may be seen in photos supplied by U.S. Rep. Garrett Graves.

After a helicopter flight to assess Hurricane Ida's devastation, Graves shared the images on Twitter. The photos, he said, depicted Grand Isle, Fourchon, Houma, and Laplace.

Nearly the whole width of Grand Isle was seen submerged in the pictures. Others showed shattered buildings and entire communities submerged in floods.

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