The massive storm, currently over Cuba, is expected to reach the US coast by Sunday - bringing the possibility of untold destruction. Experts at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) predict Ida will be extremely dangerous by tomorrow, reaching category 4 strength.

       National Weather Service meteorologist Benjamin Schott told Associated Press: “This will be a life-altering storm for those who aren't prepared.”

       The storm has already brought heavy rain and blustering winds to Cuba.

       A statement from the NHC said the deadly “life-threatening storm surge and hurricane conditions” are expected to continue for the next few hours in Western Cuba.

       The weather watching service has also warned of flash flooding and mudslides in Jamaica, the Cayman islands and the Isle of Youth.

       When the hurricane reaches the US coast, it is “expected to be an extremely dangerous major hurricane when it reaches the coast of Louisiana,” with the potential to cause flooding reaching 10-15 feet above ground level.

       The NHC also warn of “catastrophic wind damage” around the core of the storm and have urged that “actions to protect life and property should be rushed to completion in the warning area.”

       In a press conference on Friday, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell called on those living outside the city’s levee system to flee.

       “Now is the time,” he said.

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       Coincidentally, the potentially catastrophic hurricane is expected to make land in the US on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

       Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, flooding over 80 percent of the city and killing more than 1,800 people.

       However, Katrina was only a category 3 hurricane when it made landfall.

       In the decade that followed, low-lying New Orleans has strengthened its levees which aim to protect the city from flood damage.

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       The White House has said emergency aid plans are being drawn up to prepare for the incoming storm and Governor Bel Edwards has declared a state of emergency.