Hurricane Ida: Louisiana gov says first responders will not dispatch until ‘first light’ on Monday
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Hurricane Ida downgraded to a tropical storm (NCD)
Search and rescue crews will not be dispatched across southeastern Louisiana to address the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Ida until at least daylight Monday, Gov. John Bel Edwards confirmed late Sunday afternoon.
“Nobody should be expecting that tonight a first responder is going to be able to answer a call for help,” Edwards told The Advocate, noting crews will “be ready at first light tomorrow morning to go out to those areas that we know already have received the most damaging impacts from the storm.”
The catastrophic Category 4 storm engulfed Port Fourchon near Grand Isle on Sunday just before noon with sustained winds of 150 mph and a 16-foot storm surge, making landfall as one of the strongest storms to hit Louisiana since the 1850s, the newspaper reported.
Ida’s 150 mph winds tied it for the fifth-strongest hurricane to ever hit the mainland U.S., and its landfall came 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina ravaged coastal Louisiana and Mississippi, The Associated Press reported.
By comparison, Katrina made landfall as a Category 3 storm with 125 mph winds and was blamed for at least 1,800 deaths, levee breaches, catastrophic flooding in New Orleans and widespread destruction along Mississippi’s gulf coast.
“We’re just getting started,” Edwards told The Advocate, noting that some levees in LaRose, lower Lafourche and St. Bernard parishes will likely experience overtopping due to the storm.
By Sunday night, an estimated 1,542 Louisiana residents had been housed in 23 shelters, with that number expected to increase dramatically after residents who evacuated learn the extent of the damage to the residences they left behind, KATC reported.
New Video: This is Delacroix as #Ida comes ashore. Storm surge pushed in over a back levee and flooded the area. St. Bernard Parish is expecting 8-12 feet of tidal surge. Courtesy Delacroix Yacht Club. pic.twitter.com/p2ulADLYC4
By 7 p.m. EDT Sunday, Ida had been downgraded to a strong Category 3 storm but continued to pack 125 mph winds, still categorizing it as a major hurricane roughly six hours after making landfall.
“It doesn’t help anyone to dispatch first responders on a call if you’re actually going to cause the first responder to be in a very bad situation in terms of either getting hurt or killed or just being stuck where they then have to ride it out there or you send somebody else,” Edwards told The Advocate.
Anyone still in the path of the powerful storm is advised to remain in an interior space until the threat passes, and Edwards recommended keeping a mattress nearby to protect oneself and others from falling debris, KATC reported.
“Don’t drive around and sightsee,” Edwards cautioned.
Footage from Louisiana shows areas before and after they were hit by Hurricane Ida. pic.twitter.com/fb3PB4W03a
Meanwhile, nearly 5,000 Louisiana National Guard troops have been stationed across the state to assist with the storm’s aftermath, and about 185 buses will be available Monday morning for both rescue and relocation operations, the TV station reported.
According to The Advocate, the deployed guardsmen will have 195 high-water vehicles, 73 boats and 34 helicopters at their disposal to conduct search and rescue efforts across 14 parishes.
“I know it may not seem this way right now for many people out there across our state, but there is always light after darkness, and I can assure you we’re going to get through this,” Edwards told the newspaper.
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Photos: Hurricane Ida pummels Louisiana Montegut fire chief Toby Henry walks back to his fire truck in the rain as firefighters cut through trees on the road in Bourg, Louisiana as Hurricane Ida passes on August 29, 2021. (MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images)
Photos: Hurricane Ida pummels Louisiana Bourg fire chief TJ Pellegrin asks a couple if they are okay after Hurricane Ida passed in Bourg, Louisiana, on August 29, 2021. (MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images)
Photos: Hurricane Ida pummels Louisiana Debris is seen in an intersection in downtown on August 29, 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Photos: Hurricane Ida pummels Louisiana Michael Brown, who is homeless, rides out Hurricane Ida from his bed under a highway overpass on August 29, 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ida made landfall earlier today southwest of New Orleans. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Photos: Hurricane Ida pummels Louisiana A dumpster tossed by gusting winds along Canal Street during Hurricane Ida in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Photos: Hurricane Ida pummels Louisiana Vehicles are damaged after the front of a building collapsed during Hurricane Ida on August 29, 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ida made landfall earlier today southwest of New Orleans. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Hurricane Ida aftermath NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - AUGUST 29: Ann Colette Boudreaux comforts her grandson Abel ahead of Hurricane Ida on August 29, 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Residents of New Orleans continue to prepare as the outer bands of the hurricane begin to cut across the city. Ida is expected to make landfall as a Category 4 storm later today. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) (BRANDON BELL/Getty Images)
Hurricane Ida aftermath A man passes by a section of roof that was blown off of a building in the French Quarter by Hurricane Ida winds, Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) (Eric Gay/AP)
Hurricane Ida aftermath An abandoned vehicle is half submerged in a ditch next to a near flooded highway as the outer bands of Hurricane Ida arrive Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021, in Bay Saint Louis, Miss. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) (Steve Helber/AP)
Hurricane Ida aftermath A vehicle drives through rain and high winds across Canal Street in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 29, 2021 during Hurricane Ida. - Hurricane Ida made landfall as "an extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm in Louisiana on Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center, 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the region. "Extremely dangerous Category 4 Hurricane Ida makes landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana," the NHC wrote in an advisory. Ida struck the port, which is located 100 miles (160 kilometers) directly south of New Orleans, at 1655 GMT, packing maximum sustained winds estimated at 150 miles per hour. (Photo by Patrick T. FALLON / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images) (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
Hurricane Ida aftermath NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - AUGUST 29: Utility workers play in the wind from Hurricane Ida as they wait for the storm to pass to begin repairs on August 29, 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ida made landfall earlier today southwest of New Orleans. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Hurricane Ida aftermath Tony Hilliard, left, and his family expose themselves to the elements as Hurricane Ida begins to make landfall, Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021, in New Orleans, La. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) (Eric Gay/AP)
Hurricane Ida aftermath A cyclist wears a face mask as they ride through rain and high winds on Canal Street in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 29, 2021 during Hurricane Ida. - Hurricane Ida made landfall as "an extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm in Louisiana on Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center, 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the region. "Extremely dangerous Category 4 Hurricane Ida makes landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana," the NHC wrote in an advisory. Ida struck the port, which is located 100 miles (160 kilometers) directly south of New Orleans, at 1655 GMT, packing maximum sustained winds estimated at 150 miles per hour. (Photo by Patrick T. FALLON / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images) (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
Hurricane Ida aftermath TOPSHOT - Rain comes down at a wall of sandbags in Montegut, Louisiana before Hurricane Ida lands on August 29, 2021. - Hurricane Ida was upgraded to a Category 4 storm as it stayed on course to hit New Orleans with maximum sustained winds reaching 140 miles (225 kilometers) per hour, the US National Hurricane Center said Sunday. Ida was due to make landfall on Sunday, 16 years to the day Hurricane Katrina devastated the southern US city, flooding 80 percent of New Orleans, and leaving behind 1,800 casualties and billions of dollars in damage. (Photo by Mark Felix / AFP) (Photo by MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images) (MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images)
Hurricane Ida aftermath Firefighters look out the window from a shelter as hurricane Ida passes in Bourg, Louisiana on August 29, 2021. - Hurricane Ida struck the coast of Louisiana Sunday as a powerful Category 4 storm, 16 years to the day after deadly Hurricane Katrina devastated the southern US city of New Orleans."Extremely dangerous Category 4 Hurricane Ida makes landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana," the National Hurricane Center wrote in an advisory. (Photo by Mark Felix / AFP) (Photo by MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images) (MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images)
Hurricane Ida aftermath High winds blow palm trees as Entergy Corp. electric utility company bucket trucks are staged on Canal Street in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 29, 2021 during Hurricane Ida. - Hurricane Ida made landfall as "an extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm in Louisiana on Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center, 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the region. "Extremely dangerous Category 4 Hurricane Ida makes landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana," the NHC wrote in an advisory. Ida struck the port, which is located 100 miles (160 kilometers) directly south of New Orleans, at 1655 GMT, packing maximum sustained winds estimated at 150 miles per hour. (Photo by Patrick T. FALLON / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images) (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
Hurricane Ida aftermath A truck is seen in heavy winds and rain from hurricane Ida in Bourg, Louisiana on August 29, 2021. - Hurricane Ida struck the coast of Louisiana Sunday as a powerful Category 4 storm, 16 years to the day after deadly Hurricane Katrina devastated the southern US city of New Orleans."Extremely dangerous Category 4 Hurricane Ida makes landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana," the National Hurricane Center wrote in an advisory. (Photo by Mark Felix / AFP) (Photo by MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images) (MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images)
Hurricane Ida aftermath NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - AUGUST 29: The Boudreaux family sits on their front porch as they await the arrival of Hurricane Ida on August 29, 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Residents of New Orleans continue to prepare as the outer bands of the hurricane begin to cut across the city. Ida is expected to make landfall as a Category 4 storm later today. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) (BRANDON BELL/Getty Images)
Hurricane Ida aftermath Firefighters use a wet vaccum to soak up water leaking into a shelter as hurricane Ida passes in Bourg, Louisiana on August 29, 2021. - Hurricane Ida struck the coast of Louisiana Sunday as a powerful Category 4 storm, 16 years to the day after deadly Hurricane Katrina devastated the southern US city of New Orleans."Extremely dangerous Category 4 Hurricane Ida makes landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana," the National Hurricane Center wrote in an advisory. (Photo by Mark Felix / AFP) (Photo by MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images) (MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images)
