Louisiana hit with full force – VG

Post 22.53: The US National Hurricane Center is warning of catastrophic storms and high winds in parts of southeastern Louisiana.

A Category 4 hurricane hit Port Fortune, Louisiana around 19.00 Norwegian time, but Sunday night is only the beginning of the dangers the hurricane brings with it.

Now the hurricane is pushing into the state, toward the state capital Baton Rouge.

– Stay where you are, don’t go out now, it’s too late for that. Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon Broome says in a 22.25 video message that the weather is deteriorating rapidly and I want you to stay put.

The local channel WDSU received a video of the wind tearing the ceiling of a hospital:

More than 400,000 Louisiana electricity consumers have been affected as of 22.40, according to electric company Entergy.

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards says, according to Reuters, that Hurricane Ida may be the worst hurricane to hit the state directly since the 1850s. On Sunday, it’s been exactly 16 years since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and killed 1,800 people.

Here you can see photos from Sunday night:

Hurricane and storm warnings have been issued from Louisiana to the border with Florida.

Class 4 means winds of 210-245 kilometers per hour, Duty Meteorologist Martin Granrod at the Meteorological Institute refers to VG.

– It looks like they’ll have high storms. The sea level is expected to rise by three to four meters in some places, heavy rain is expected, and a hurricane warning has been issued and they have warned of very strong winds. The meteorologist said early Sunday night that it is often wind and water that makes the situation so dangerous.

On the main roads north of the coast, there is heavy traffic, including large trucks pulling fishing boats, cars with caravans and recreational boats.

There are long queues at gas stations and car rental offices, and oil rigs have been evacuated off the coast.

Extraordinarily strong

The movie “Ida” doesn’t seem to have reached the same spot as “Katrina” in 2005.

– It may appear that the hurricane is now hitting a little more west of New Orleans than Hurricane Katrina, and that way it could be better for that particular city. But there is a large area that will be affected. Large parts of the Louisiana coast and inland will get a lot of wind and strong winds. Many of them have already been evacuated due to the power outage, says Granerød of the Meteorological Institute.

The meteorologist says area Ida is now on its way to hurricanes, but it’s not that strong.

– We are in hurricane season now which lasts from June until hurricanes, so get used to hurricanes here. Granrod explains that this is one of their strongest in many years.

No time to evacuate

Ida arrives suddenly, and Latoya Cantell, the mayor of New Orleans, says there is no time for a full evacuation.

I asked those who had the opportunity to evacuate, while others should fortify themselves at home and prepare for long-term power outages where strong winds will likely be around ten hours.

Ida is expected to enter directly into New Orleans and then along a dense industrial hub toward inland Baton Rouge.

Aksen is a very important center for the petrochemical industry in the United States, with oil refineries, natural gas plants, and chemical products plants. There are also two nuclear power plants in the area.