Louisiana The National Hurricane Center warned that Tropical Storm Ida, which was strengthening as it moved toward Cuba on Friday, could quickly move across the warm Gulf of Mexico and make landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on Sunday.
“According to the forecast, it will hit New Orleans directly. Not good,” declared Jim Kossin, a hurricane and climate expert at NOAA.
Forecast Of Ida
Ida was forecast to intensify into a hurricane on Friday before making landfall in Cuba’s tobacco-rich western provinces, where the government has issued a hurricane alert for the Isle of Youth and its westernmost provinces. Forecasters stated that up to 20 inches of rain might fall in certain areas, increasing the risk of devastating flash floods and mudslides.
The threat will then increase over the Gulf of Mexico, where models concur that Ida will quickly develop into a major hurricane, reaching 120 mph (193 kph) before making landfall in the Mississippi River delta late on Sunday, according to the hurricane centre.
If the prognosis is accurate, Hurricane Ida will arrive on September 16, 2016, exactly 16 years after Hurricane Katrina struck as a Category 3 hurricane with 125 mph (201 kph) winds near the riverside village of Buras in Plaquemines Parish, close to New Orleans.
According to the national storm centre, Buras and New Orleans have some of the highest chances of being impacted by Ida’s hurricane-force winds. According to Governor John Bel Edwards, everyone in Louisiana should be in a safe place by Saturday night in order to weather the storm.
Evacuation Warning
Elderly households were encouraged to consider evacuating, according to city officials, who also warned that residents need to be ready for protracted power disruptions. Emergency management director for the city Collin Arnold predicted that the city would see strong winds for ten hours or so.
Other coastal communities were subject to a mix of voluntary and required evacuations. On the exact same day that Hurricane Katrina ravaged a significant portion of the Gulf Coast precisely 16 years ago, the storm is anticipated to make landfall. Capt. Ross Eichorn, a fishing guide on the coast about 70 miles (112 km) southwest of New Orleans, expressed concern that Ida will “turn into a monster” in the warm Gulf waters.
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Final Words
“With a direct hit, there’s no saying what, if anything, will be left,” Eichorn added. “Anyone who isn’t concerned has something wrong with them,” he continued. Most of the Louisiana coast between Intracoastal City and the Pearl River’s mouth was under a hurricane warning. The Mississippi-Alabama borderline was included in a tropical storm warning.
When Ida moves inland, there will likely be additional, heavy rainfall across Mississippi, which will result in “significant flash, urban, small stream, and riverine flooding,” according to the hurricane centre.