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Hurricane Ida In Louisiana: 2 Dead, 191 Rescued As Damage Assessment Continues

Aubry Procell/WWNO
Debris and toppled trees littered a roadway in Baton Rouge on Aug. 30, 2021, following Hurricane Ida, a Category 4 storm.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, the Louisiana National Guard has rescued 191 citizens and 27 pets, but Louisiana officials said there have been at least two confirmed deaths as of Monday. Those numbers are expected to rise as state officials continue to assess the damage wrought by the storm, Gov. John Bel Edwards said.

A 60-year-old Ascension Parish man died when a tree fell on his house. Monday afternoon, the Louisiana Department of Health confirmed a second death of an Orleans Parish man, age unknown, who drove through flood water near Interstate 10 and drowned.

During the Ida update Monday, Edwards urged residents who evacuated from the storm to stay where they are until it’s safe to come back, as other parish officials did before him.

“Now is not the time to return unless and until your parish informs you that it’s okay to do so,” Edwards said. “Businesses aren’t open, Stores aren’t open. Schools aren’t open, and quite frankly we need to put as little strain on our water and electrical systems as possible.”

Issues that could persist in the coming days or even weeks include cell phone service and mass power outages. Edwards said at least 1.1 million homes and businesses were without electricity following the Category 4 storm, which made landfall in Louisiana on the 16th anniversary of Katrina.

Transmissions failed because of the wind, Edwards said, with some areas clocking 170 mph wind gusts. Entergy is working to assess the extensive damage with thousands of linemen already out and several thousand more en route to the state, making critical infrastructure like hospitals a priority.

“I can’t tell you when the power is going to be restored,” Edwards said. “What I can tell you is that we’re going to work hard every single day to deliver as much assistance as we possibly can.”

Hundreds of thousands of Louisianans are without clean water. Monday afternoon, the Louisiana Department of Health reported that more than 750,000 people were either under a boil advisory or without running water at all.

Edwards asked that residents who didn’t evacuate not strain water and electricity resources as towns and parishes try to recover. Four hospitals, all with ERs, also had to be evacuated.

Even with those staggering numbers, Edwards said state and local authorities are still working to assess the extent of the damage and the timeline for recovery.

“There are an awful lot of unknowns right now,” Edwards said. “There are certainly more questions than answers.”

But Edwards did mention a silver lining — no levees within the federally-regulated Hurricane Storm Damage Risk Reduction System were breached. A small number of levees outside the system were overtopped and one Lafourche Parish official said a parish levee at Bayou Boeuf just south of Lac des Allemands, was breached Sunday night.

As conditions in some parts of the state began to ease Monday morning, search and rescue operations took place in the hardest hit areas.

The entirety of the Louisiana National Guard has been activated to respond to the storm utilizing 195 high-water vehicles, 79 boats and 34 helicopters. The Louisiana State Fire Marshal is coordinating a 900-person task force, with rescue personnel from multiple agencies and 16 states. Edwards said additional rescue teams from New York and Massachusetts are on the way.

While Ida’s hit on Louisiana was in full swing Sunday night, President Joe Biden granted Edwards’ request for a major federal disaster declaration. The declaration will pave the way for additional federal personnel and financial assistance in the aftermath of the storm.

With the major disaster designation, residents of 25 storm-affected parishes can now apply for individual assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Administration — Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Martin, St. Mary, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Washington, West Baton Rouge and West Feliciana parishes.

More than 18,000 people have registered so far.

Edwards briefed Biden on the conditions in Louisiana on Monday afternoon and plans to meet with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell in Louisiana on Tuesday.

As the people of Louisiana begin the all-too-familiar slog of recovering from a major hurricane — the second record-breaking storm in as many years — Edwards appealed to their sense of resilience.

“I know that a lot of people out there are tired and sometimes this can be too much to bear,” Edwards said. “But I know the people of Louisiana are stronger than the strongest of storms. Our spirit is unbreakable and we’re going to embark on this road to recovery together.”

Paul Braun was WRKF's Capitol Access reporter, from 2019 through 2023.