NEW ORLEANS —
Louisiana communities battered by Hurricane Ida face a new danger as they being clearing debris and repairing damage from the storm: the possibility of weeks without power in the stifling, late-summer heat.
Ida ravaged the region’s power grid, leaving the entire city of New Orleans and hundreds of thousands of other Louisiana residents in the dark with no clear timeline on when power would return. Some areas outside New Orleans also suffered major flooding and structural damage.
“There are certainly more questions than answers. I can’t tell you when the power is going to be restored. I can’t tell you when all the debris is going to be cleaned up and repairs made,” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards told a news conference Monday. “But what I can tell you is we are going to work hard every day to deliver as much assistance as we can.”
President Biden met virtually Monday with Edwards and Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, along with mayors from cities and parishes most affected by Ida, to receive an update on the storm’s impact and to discuss how the federal government can provide assistance.
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“We are closely coordinating with state and local officials every step of the way,” Biden said.
Two people were killed and at least 10 others were injured after a roadway collapsed in Mississippi on Monday night. WDSU-TV reported that the Mississippi Highway Patrol, emergency personnel and rescue teams responded to Highway 26 in George County, about 60 miles northeast of Biloxi, to find both the east and westbound lanes collapsed, troopers confirmed.
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More than 1 million customers in Louisiana and Mississippi were left without power as Ida pushed through before weakening to a tropical storm.
Seven cars were involved and cranes will be needed to get the cars out of the hole, Cpl. Cal Robertson with the Mississippi Highway Patrol said.
Rescuers in boats, helicopters and high-water trucks brought hundreds of people trapped by floodwaters to safety Monday, and they planned to eventually go door to door in hard-hit areas to make sure everyone got out safely. Power crews also rushed into the state.
The governor said 25,000 utility workers were on the ground in Louisiana to help restore electricity, with more on the way.
Still, his office described damage to the power grid as “catastrophic,” and power officials said it could be weeks before electricity is restored in some spots.
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Hurricane Ida, hurricane, severe weather, New Orleans, Louisiana
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More than 1 million homes and businesses in Louisiana and Mississippi were left without power as Ida pushed through on Sunday with winds that reached 150 mph. The wind speed tied it for the fifth-strongest hurricane ever to hit the U.S. mainland. By late Monday, the storm had been downgraded to a tropical depression with winds of up to 35 mph, though forecasters still warned of heavy rain and a flood threat for parts of the Tennessee and Ohio valleys.
The storm was blamed for the deaths of a motorist who drowned in New Orleans and a person hit by a falling tree outside Baton Rouge, La.
Pamela Mitchell said Monday she was thinking about leaving New Orleans until power returned, but her 14-year-old daughter, Michelle, was determined to stay and was preparing to clean out the fridge and put perishables in an ice chest.
Mitchell had already spent a hot and frightening night at home while Ida’s winds shrieked, and she thought the family could tough it out.
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A strengthening Hurricane Ida, bearing high winds and the likelihood of flooding rain as it heads for the Louisiana coast, could damage the energy-heavy Gulf Coast economy and potentially have economic consequences well beyond the region.
“We went a week before, with Zeta,” she said, recalling an outage during the hurricane that hit the city last fall.
Other residents of the city were relying on generators or neighbors who had them. Hank Fanberg said both of his neighbors had offered him access to their generators. He also had a plan for food.
“I have a gas grill and charcoal grill,” he said.
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The hurricane blew ashore on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the 2005 storm that breached New Orleans’ levees, devastated the city and was blamed for 1,800 deaths.
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This time, New Orleans escaped the catastrophic flooding some had feared. But city officials still urged people who evacuated to stay away for at least a couple of days because of the lack of power and fuel.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued emergency fuel waivers Monday night for Louisiana and Mississippi, effective immediately. They will end Sept. 16.
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Some places were also dealing with water problems. Eighteen water systems were out, affecting more than 312,000 people, and an additional 14 systems affecting another 329,000 people were under “boil water” advisories, Edwards said.
The hurricane twisted and collapsed a giant tower that carries key transmission lines over the Mississippi River to the New Orleans area, causing widespread outages, power company Entergy and local authorities said. The company said more than 2,000 miles of transmission lines were out of service, along with 216 substations. The tower had survived Katrina.
The storm also flattened utility poles, toppled trees onto power lines and caused transformers to explode.
In Mississippi’s southwestern corner, entire neighborhoods were surrounded by floodwaters, and many roads were impassable. Several tornadoes were reported, including a suspected twister in Saraland, Ala., that ripped part of the roof off a motel and flipped an 18-wheeler, injuring the driver, according to the National Weather Service.