Hurricane Ida made landfall in the Gulf Coast of Louisiana on October 2, 2017. The storm was blamed for at least 11 deaths and caused extensive damage to homes and businesses.
The first fatality has been verified as a result of the catastrophic storm that hit the United States yesterday.
The death toll is expected to rise further during the day as emergency personnel evaluate the extent of Hurricane Ida’s devastation.
Experts believe it was the joint fifth most powerful storm to have strike the United States, with wind gusts of up to 150 mph when it made landfall as a category four hurricane.
On Sunday, the hurricane plowed into the southern states of Louisiana and Mississippi, knocking out electricity in New Orleans and flooding coastal towns.
Witnesses who were still in the state when Hurricane Harvey hit recorded the moment strong winds ripped the roof off a hospital.
When the hospital in Louisiana lost electricity, emergency services were forced to be stopped, and physicians were forced to physically help approximately 2,450 Covid-19 patients in breathing.
The weather system is still moving north, but it has been reduced to a category one storm, and experts anticipate it to diminish quickly during the morning.
Hurricane Ida blew strong enough to cause building roofs to collapse.
As it continues to make her way north, Louisiana and New Orleans are starting to calculate the cost of a massive storm (Picture: AFP)
Hurricane Ida was a category four hurricane when it hit the United States on Sunday (Picture: Getty)
In recent days, residents in flood-prone regions have been encouraged to leave, and severe curfews have been imposed.
President Joe Biden declared a national emergency in the two states on Sunday, warning residents that the storm will be “devastating” and “life-threatening.”
‘We have verified at least one fatality, and unfortunately, we know there will be more,’ said Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards.
‘Thousands of our people are without electricity, and property damage in the affected parishes is untold.’
The first death, a person hit by a falling tree at their house, was verified by the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office, which serves a rural region north of New Orleans.
With wind gusts of up to 150 miles per hour, it is one of the most powerful storms to have strike the United States. (Photo courtesy of Getty)
People in susceptible areas were advised to leave, but others were forced to stay (Picture: Getty)
Canal Street in New Orleans’ renowned French Quarter was badly damaged, but the extent of the destruction is unknown (Picture: Getty)
Many highways in the states are inaccessible, according to emergency services, due to fallen trees and other debris (Picture: Getty)
According to the Jefferson Parish Emergency Management Department, about one million people were left without power when one transmission tower collapsed into the Mississippi River.
The National Hurricane Center has recorded storm surges and flash floods throughout southern Louisiana.
On the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which killed over 1,800 people and devastated most of the city, the hurricane hit.
In the ensuing years, hundreds of miles of additional levees and storm defense systems have been constructed.
The newly strengthened New Orleans levees are anticipated to withstand, but the flood barriers may be overtopped in certain areas, according to the US Army Corps of Engineers.
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