A rescue team member helps evacuate a woman after Hurricane Ida on Jan.
Marco Bello | Reuters
Communities in the southeast have been hit by Hurricane Ida after the storm system devastated power grids and water systems in the scorching heat.
According to PowerOutage.us, more than a million customers in Louisiana have been without power. About 52,000 power losses in Mississippi.
Since Ida went ashore on Sunday, utility teams have moved in to assess the damage to the city’s electricity grid, a process that will likely take days, according to utility Entergy. The restoration of the electrical transmission will “take much longer,” said the company in a tweet on Monday.
Meanwhile, 18 water systems have failed, affecting more than 312,000 people, and another 14 systems serving 329,000 people have been under boiling water warnings, the Associated Press reported. Residents are rushing to find fresh drinking water and ice, as well as non-perishable food.
Gas is also getting harder and harder as people try to fill up cars or generators. That means regional prices will temporarily rise, the American Automobile Association said.
“There’s no point in staying,” said CNBC resident Frank Holland as he refueled with gas. “Our water is rubbish. It’s just too hard to stay here.”
Highway 51 will flood in LaPlace, Louisiana after Hurricane Ida on August 30, 2021.
Mickey Welsh | Montgomery Advertiser | USA TODAY network via Reuters
All of this happens in the sweltering late summer heat. Heat warnings were in place for some parts of Louisiana and Mississippi, where heat index values could reach 106 degrees.
Ida hit land over Port Fourchon, Louisiana as a Category 4 storm with winds reaching 250 mph, one of the strongest storms to hit the region since Hurricane Katrina, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. The storm has been downgraded to a tropical depression and is sweeping the Tennessee River valley. Heavy rains are expected to occur in the Ohio and Tennessee valleys and the mid-Atlantic region by Wednesday.
