NEW ORLEANS — Ed. Note: We have moved our continuing coverage of the storm to a new liveblog page. To continue getting live updates, click here:
Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana Sunday as a catastrophic Category 4 hurricane, bringing deadly weather conditions as it crosses over Southern Louisiana.
4 AM
Ida is now a tropical storm as it continues to move north, away from Louisiana and towards Mississippi.
3:45 AM
St. Bernard Parish President Guy McInnis: 22 barges were loose in St. Bernard parish 4 damaged the dock at the Valero Refinery.
3:30 AM
All residents at the Metairie Towers senior living home have been evacuated
2:35 AM
Two-alarm at St. Claud fresh Market on St. Calud ave.
2:30 AM
Flash Flood Warning in effect for St. Charles and St. Bernard Parishes until 7:15 AM
2:15 AM
OPCD 911 reports 9-1-1 is experiencing technical difficulties. residents are being asked to go to the nearest fire station or approach the nearest officer if they experience an emergency.
1:45 AM
Need to Know:
Hurricane Ida is tracking north with levees in Lafitte and Plaquemines failing and several people stranded, and with the number of outages, residents are encouraged to be careful with generators usage.
1:30 AM
The St. Charles Parish Sheriffs Office 911 emergency and non-emergency lines are currently down.
1:15 AM
Damage left behind from Hurricane Ida in St. Bernard Parish.
1:00 AM
The number of power outages is constantly growing with 846,159 Entergy customers affected and 95,585 Cleco customers affected.
12:45 AM
12:30 AM
Tangipahoa Parish has issued a flash flood warning for the are until 3 AM
12:15 AM
What you need to know Monday morning about the effects of Hurricane Ida, that has been downgraded to a category 1.
12:00 AM
Hurricane has become a category 1 storm.
11 PM
Emergency in Lafitte and Jean Lafitte
NWS reports a levee has failed around Lafitte and Jean Lafitte. More than 200 people are in imminent danger.
10:30 PM
Rescue operations in LaPlace
The St. John the Baptist Parish emergency operation center is receiving several calls for people to be rescued from their flooding homes, Parish President Jaclyn Hotard said.
According to Hotard, the conditions are too dangerous for rescue teams to go out on the roads right now. She asks that people call 911 so they know who needs to be rescued and wait inside their homes until rescue workers arrive.
10:00 PM
Message from St. Charles Parish:
- While the most significant impacts of Hurricane Ida have passed, all residents are advised to remain in their homes while we assess damages and clear roads.
- This is not the time for residents to go out and about.
- Parish government is working in conjunction with the Sheriffs office and fire department to clear roads from dangerous downed power lines, trees and damaged infrastructure such as water lines, gas lines and sewerage systems.
- Again, please stay put while parish crews and first responders make the parish safe.
9:50 PM
St. John the Baptist Parish
- The 911 call center is currently receiving residents calls regarding emergency assistance including evacuations.
- Please remain in your homes.
- First responders will deploy as soon as soon as it safe to do so. Please call 911 if you need emergency evacuation assistance.
9:30 PM
The first death from Hurricane Ida was reported in Ascension after sustaining injuries from a tree falling into a home.
9:20 PM
Water is beginning to rise on the Eastbound I-10 out of Metairie.
9:00 PM
Hurricane Ida has been downgraded to a Category 2 hurricane. Winds are now at 110 MPH with gusts at 160 mph and traveling North/ Northwest at 9 mph but there is no change in the track.
8:50 PM
Entergy update:
- As a result of Hurricane Ida’s catastrophic intensity, all eight transmission lines that deliver power into the New Orleans area are currently out of service. When this occurred, it caused a load imbalance in the area and resulted in generation in the area coming offline.
- We are currently working to assess damage and identify a path forward to restore power, to those who can take it, in the area.
- We have provided backup generation to the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board.
- Power will not be restored this evening, but we will continue work to remedy.
8:30 PM
Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng: Jefferson Parish updates
- Westbank losing 250,000 gallons of water an hour due to water main breaks caused by falling trees.
- Contact has been lost with Grand Isle officials hours ago.
- The water in Lafitte is rising and officials are concerned about residents.
- Kerner Swing bridge was hit by a vessel and the vessel reportedly sunk.
- Senior living center in Metairie is taking on water due to roof leak and residents are being transferred to safety.
8:15 PM
A Flash Flood Emergency is in effect for the New Orleans metro area until noon Monday. If you do not have to go out to escape imminent flooding, do not leave your current shelter.
7:55 PM
The entire eastbank of Jefferson Parish is now under a boil water advisory. Residents should boil water before drinking or using it to bathe.
Fopr a full list of boil water advisories throughout Southeast Louisiana, click here.
7:40 PM
The Karnofsky Music Store, hailed by the Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans as one of the most important remaining historic jazz sites in New Orleans, has completely collapsed.
It's unclear if the building was occupied by any business at the time.
7:30 PM
S&WB officials have confirmed to WWL-TV that all Entergy feeder power to the Carrolton power generating station has been cut off because of a "catastrophic" problem with Entergy's system.
It leaves the city's fragile pump system in a perilous state as Hurricane Ida's eye sits about 20 miles west of New Orleans.
7:15 PM
The Kerner Swing Bridge in Lafitte was hit by a barge, parish officials say. The bridge does not appear to be structurally sound and any residents still in Lafitte should not attempt to drive across it.
7:10 PM
The Plaquemines Parish curfew has been extended for to the entire parish. The curfew is from sundown until sunrise.
6:40 PM
All of Lafourche Parish south of Raceland will be under a boil water advisory until further notice. Residents won't have water pressure "for some time," sheriff's office officials said in a tweet Sunday evening.
6:30 PM
St. Tammany Parish officials are telling out partners at the Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate to expect dangerous winds through midnight and rainfall through sunrise Monday morning.
6:25 PM
Terrebonne Parish officials say their 911 service is up and running again. Residents can call in to report emergencies to first responders.
However, first responders are unable to actually get to any calls because of the weather conditions on the roads making them potentially deadly for any crews looking to get to people. Emergency response efforts will restart as soon as the storm passes.
6:20 PM
All of St. Charles Parish is now under a boil water advisory because of leaks being reported around the parish associated with Hurricane Ida.
6:10 PM
Hurricane Ida has been downgraded to a Category 3 hurricane as it continues its unforgiving march north. As of the latest update, the storm is five miles east of Houma, with maximum wind speeds of 125 MPH.
The storm is still moving excruciatingly slowly at 10 MPH towards the northwest.
5:50 PM
Terrebonne Parish's 911 line is down, meaning residents are unable to report emergencies for the time being. Parish officials say they are trying to reroute emergency calls through the sheriff's office, but that the swap will take some time.
Emergency responders are largely unable to get to calls regardless, because life-threatening winds are still continuous in the parish while Hurricane Ida passes over the parish.
5:30 PM
Our partners at the Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate report that Thibodaux Regional Medical Center's ICU had a generator failure amid Hurricane Ida's impacts. Patients had to be transported via a stairwell to another part of the hospital with power.
5:15 PM
A Flash Flood Emergency has been issued for the Braithwaite are of Plaquemines Parish. Levees in the area have significantly overtopped on the eastbank of the parish between the parish line and White Ditch.
If anybody is in that area, they need to seek higher ground immediately.
5 PM
New Orleans firefighters responded to a 2-alarm fire on Rampart Street during Hurricane Ida after elevator motors on the fifth floor of a building caught fire.
It's unclear exactly when the fire broke out, but most emergency responders have by now begun sheltering in place from life-threatening winds across the city.
4:45 PM
Hurricane Ida appears to be stalling over Southeast Louisiana, which is bad news for just about everybody currently in its path. Ida is holding its strength as a strong Category 4 storm in lower Terrebonne Parish.
Rain will continue to fall at a rate of 3-4 inches per hour until the storm either passes or weakens.
Devastating winds are expected to continue through the foreseeable future.
4:35 PM
More of New Orleans is red on Entergy's Outage map than green, indicating most of the city is without power even before the worst of Hurricane Ida reaches the city. Entergy lists about 122,000 customers without power in the parish.
Across the state, just under 480,000 customers are currently without power, nearing the outage totals from Hurricane Zeta last year.
Power companies report outages in terms of customers. Each customer represents a building. Some of those buildings are likely empty as people have evacuated ahead of the storm and closed businesses, but others will have multiple people inside them.
4:30 PM
All parts of Terrebonne Parish east and south of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) are now under a boil water advisory because of problems caused by Hurricane Ida.
4:20 PM
The city of New Orleans is planning a post-storm evacuation plan after Hurricane Ida has passed. Anybody interested in serving as a volunteer for that effort in any capacity can sign up to do so here.
4 PM
S&WB officials now say 24 of the 84 sewer lift pumps in New Orleans are without power.
These are not the drainage pumps that drain water from the city.
Instead, these pumps regulate wastewater disposal throughout the city. With some down, there is a chance for sewage backflow into homes nearby.
Read more about these pumps and what the outage will mean here:
3:50 PM
There are more than 420,000 Entergy customers without power across Louisiana. That number is expected to grow even higher as Hurricane Ida continues to make its way over land towards Baton Rouge.
During Hurricane Zeta last year, 480,000 people were without power at the height of outages.
3:45 PM
Despite making landfall nearly four hours ago, Ida shows no signs of weakening as it slows over the marshy areas of south Terrebonne Parish.
Baton Rouge isn't expected to see major impacts until around 7 p.m., meaning there are still many long hours ahead for Southeast Louisiana as the storm passes overhead.
3:30 PM
The ferry that broke loose from its mooring in Chalmette is one of the newest in the fleet. It only went into service last year and cost at least $10 million.
The boat appears to have become grounded.
Emergency tug boats have been assigned to recover it as soon as conditions are safe to do so.
3:05 PM
President Joe Biden is promising the full resources of the federal government to recovery efforts after Hurricane Ida.
FEMA is staged to assist the state in the storm's aftermath.
3 PM
St. James Parish is implementing a curfew at 4 p.m. Sunday. It will remain in place until sunup Monday morning. Residents should not be out on the street until after Hurricane Ida has passed.
2:55 PM
NOPD officers responded to reports of a stabbing at an apartment complex on the North I-10 Service Road Sunday amid rapidly deteriorating conditions in New Orleans. A woman at the location had been stabbed in the back.
According to Ramon Vargas with the Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate, the officers took the woman to the hospital themselves because EMS was not able to get to the scene because of the weather conditions.
This is one of the last emergency calls that NOPD officers will be able to respond to until Hurricane Ida has passed.
2:50 PM
Footage from St. Bernard Parish Coastal Director Jane Lane shows the passenger ferry that drifted free near Chalmette earlier today.
2:40 PM
New Orleans is seeing consistent 70 MPH gusts as Hurricane Ida continues north. Wind speeds are expected to rise further through the rest of the day.
2:35 PM
St. Bernard Parish President Guy Mcinnis confirmed that the RTA pedestrian ferry was the ferry that got loose of its mooring. The ferry is usually docked across from the Chalmette Ferry terminal.
It's unclear if any of the surrounding levees are at risk from the drifting ferry.
2:15 PM
Gov. Edwards says there are about 1,500 people sheltering in 23 emergency shelters throughout the state, and that number could grow in the aftermath of the storm as people assess the damage caused by Hurricane Ida.
2:10 PM
Gov. John Bel Edwards is urging residents to avoid sightseeing in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Ida. Downed power lines, debris and other potentially hidden dangers could be deadly to anybody who ventures out after the storm.
2 PM
The Chalmette Ferry has broken loose of its mooring and is currently headed upriver on the Mississippi. The ferry is near Mile Marker 90, and officials say there is nothing that can be done to stop it until the storm passes.
1:55 PM
Any reports of a major oil facility in the Gulf of Mexico having issues are unconfirmed. Shell cannot determine if any of those reports are true until after the storm has passed and they can conduct a damage assessment.
However, officials confirmed to WWL-TV that the platform was evacuated ahead of Ida and all oil wells are shut down.
1:50 PM
Part of a roof in the French Quarter has fallen into the street near the intersection of Decatur and Toulouse streets.
1:30 PM
More than 230,000 customers across Louisiana are without power as Hurricane Ida continues to march slowly across the state.
about 64,000 of those outages are in New Orleans, with another 75,000 in Jefferson Parish.
Even more outages are expected throughout the day, with estimated restoration times for some areas stretching into the weeks.
1 PM
There have been calls for rescue on Grand Isle, but because of deteriorating weather conditions and flooding on Highway 1, Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng says the people still on the island — about 40 people — will need to wait it out until the storm passes.
12:45 PM
Washington Parish will be placed under a parish-wide curfew at 5 p.m. that will last through 7 a.m. Monday. No one will be allowed out on the streets unless they are responders, medical emergency or required to report to work.
All parish residents should seek shelter and stay there until Hurricane Ida has passed.
12:35 PM
There are now at least 130,500 customers without power across Southeast Louisiana. Widespread outages could last for weeks.
Some parish officials have said they expect outages to last 25 days or more.
12:30 PM
A Twitter user in the path of Hurricane Ida posted a video, possibly from Grand Isle, showing a tree becoming uprooted by the winds and floodwaters.
NOON
Hurricane Ida has made landfall near Port Fourchon. Shelter in place.
11:55 AM
All emergency services in New Orleans have been suspended until Hurricane Ida has passed. No emergency calls will be answered in the city by NOPD, NOFD or EMS until conditions improve.
11:45 AM
All emergency responders in Lafourche Parish have begun to shelter in place, meaning they will not respond to calls until the storm has passed.
Other parishes are expected to begin similar procedures as the storm reaches land and begins passing over Louisiana.
11:40 AM
Mayor LaToya Cantrell says New Orleans could experience deadly winds as Hurricane Ida makes landfall.
"This is the time to stay inside," Cantrell said.
Parish officials warned that because of the winds, emergency responders would be unable to respond to calls until the storm passes.
“There’s nobody coming to help right now,” said Collin Arnold, the city's director of emergency management.
New Orleans EMS has begun sheltering in place already, and NOPD/NOFD personnel are expected to start sheltering soon.
11:30 AM
Several Sewerage and Water Board sewer pump stations are without power on both the eastbank and westbank.
These are not the drainage pumps that pump water out of the city.
The sewer pumps being out means there is potential for sewer backups in homes. Anybody with power is being asked to reduce the amount of wastewater leaving their homes by not running the dishwasher or washing machine.
11:20 AM
Here's a timeline of when to expect the worst from Hurricane Ida in your area.
11:15 AM
Delgado Community College will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday amid widespread power outages and expected major destruction from Hurricane Ida.
The school plans to assess the situation later this week to determine whether the closure will continue beyond that.
11:10 AM
The inner eyewall of Hurricane Ida is making landfall over Port Fourchon. The center of the storm is going to reach the Louisiana coast within the next hour.
10:45 AM
Former WWL-TV Chief Meteorologist Carl Arredondo is seeing an outer band from Hurricane Ida all the way on the Florida coast.
Here's his view from Fort Walton Beach.
10:35 AM
Tangipahoa Parish will be placed under a mandatory curfew at 9 p.m. that will be in place until Monday at 10 a.m.
Parish officials urge everybody to stay inside and hunker in place. The time to evacuate has passed, and anybody still in the parish should prepare for hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall.
10:30 AM
9-1-1 service is back online in New Orleans after a brief outage. Residents who need to call in an emergency should be able to do so with no complications.
However, emergency responders could be delayed or stopped by weather conditions, meaning they may not be able to immediately respond to all calls.
10:25 AM
St. Tammany Parish President Mike Cooper says a curfew will begin across the parish at noon and will last until further notice. Nobody should be outside while Hurricane Ida is passing through Louisiana.
10:20 AM
Slidell police say no businesses are open in the city, including gas stations. Several red lights have gone out, and more are expected to go down in the next few hours.
Police say that once winds reach a certain speed, it will be difficult for officers to respond to emergencies, and in certain circumstances may be impossible until conditions improve.
Residents should shelter in place until after Hurricane Ida has passed.
10:10 AM
St. Bernard Parish President Guy Mcinnis posted a video shortly after talking with WWL-TV where he showed the ring levees around Delacroix that are about to overtop.
He said they are expected to overtop by about 5-6 feet and to stay overtopped for another 12 hours at least.
10 AM
9-1-1 is experiencing technical difficulties in New Orleans, according to the Orleans Parish Communications District.
Residents who need to report an emergency should call 504-821-2222.
City officials said Saturday they expect emergency response service to be spotty for at least the first 72 hours after the storm because of dangerous conditions and blocked roads.
9:40 AM
St. Bernard Parish President Guy Mcinnis says some levees in the parish are close to overtopping.
Ring levees around Delacroix about to overtop, Mcinnis told WWL-TV.
The storm surge in the parish is about 6-8 feet, with higher surges expected in the coming hours.
9:35 AM
The Causeway will close at 11 a.m. because of high winds, bridge officials say.
Winds of up to 50 MPH have been clocked over Lake Pontchartrain.
9:30 AM
LaVar Burton, of Star Trek and Reading Rainbow fame, is the latest to express well wishes to Louisiana.
Ida has drawn international attention for its historic strength, timing and threat to population centers along the Gulf coast.
9 AM
Hurricane Ida is continuing its trek towards Louisiana's coast, with an expected landfall somewhere near Port Fourchon. Landfall is expected sometime around noon.
Winds are picking up throughout the coastal parishes, with gusts beginning to jump up further inland. The worst weather is still expected to be through Sunday afternoon.
8:35 AM
Terrebonne Parish President Gordon Dove urged residents living in mobile homes of any kind to evacuate immediately ahead of winds up to 150 MPH expected in the parish Sunday night.
if you live in a trailer, if you live in a motor home, you live in a travel trailer, get out," Dove said. "Don't even think, even if you've got straps, that's not going to hold against that monster coming after us. This thing is bad and we are urging people to get out of these mobile homes because that's nothing to play with. They're going to blow apart."
He urged any residents with nowhere to go to contact the parish for accommodations. Terrebonne Parish has partnered with a number of hotels to house those displaced ahead of the storm.
8:20 AM
St. Charles Parish has set up two areas as a refuge of last resort:
Edward A Dufresne Community Center at 274 Judge Edward A. Dufresne Parkway (West Bank)
Harry Hurst Middle School gym located at 170 Road Runner Lane in Destrehan (East Bank)
Those who are unable to shelter anywhere else should go to the nearest of those locations immediately.
For a full list of shelters across Southeast Louisiana, click here:
8:10 AM
Here's the latest update on Hurricane Ida, expected to make landfall around noon as a devastating Category 4 hurricane.
7:55 AM
An Extreme Wind Warning has been issued for much of Southeast Louisiana. Winds over 115 MPH will begin in the area within the next hour. Residents are advised to treat the storm like a tornado and to take shelter in a sturdy structure away from windows.
7:45 AM
St. Tammany Parish has called an 11 a.m. press conference to discuss Hurricane Ida. WWL-TV will carry the press conference live as part of our continuing coverage of the storm.
7:35 AM
On Grand Isle, where power was just lost, water and wind are surging in.
Councilman Ricky Templet evacuated from the island, but sent WWL-TV some video showing the ferocity of the storm's outer bands.
Some residents have decided to stay, despite the mandatory evacuation order.
7:30 AM
All of lower Plaquemines Parish is now without power as Hurricane Ida approaches. Grand Isle in Jefferson Parish has also gone dark.
7:20 AM
Cleco is now reporting 5,300 customers without power, bringing the total across the state to over 10,000.
Widespread outages will continue, with some outages in places hit the hardest by Ida potentially taking weeks to be fixed.
7 AM
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the New Orleans levee system has been built and rebuilt post-Katrina to stand up to a bigger storm than Ida.
"This particular track on the eat bank of the river really should not be a problem," said Heath Jones a spokesman for the Corps told WWL-TV. "We spent $14.5 billion congress gave us after Katrina to improve the system. We've done vast changes in design, vast changes in approach. It's designed to take that overtopping."
In coastal parishes, the situation may be different, especially when the highest storm surge comes in later Sunday.
"Terrebonne's levee protection system is not designed for this," Jones said.
6:55 AM
Grand Isle is reporting hurricane-force winds, with sustained winds of 90 MPH and gusts of 115 MPH reported. Hurricane Ida is still hours away from landfall west of the island.
6:50 AM
S&WB says Turbine 4 is back in service to supply power to the city's pumps ahead of Hurricane Ida.
96 of the city's 99 drainage pumps are available. The three out of service pumps are located in New Orleans East and Lakeview.
Officials said they were confident they would be able to power the pumps during a press conference Saturday.
6:25 AM
Cleco is reporting about 3,900 customers without power on the northshore, with most of those outages clustered around Slidell.
Entergy reports just under 5,500 customers without power, with the vast majority in Jefferson and Plaquemines parishes.
Outages are expected to increase throughout the day.
6:05 AM
Hurricane Ida now has sustained winds of 150 MPH as it approaches the Louisiana coast. The threshold for a Category 5 hurricane is 157 MPH.
The storm will be the strongest in modern history to make landfall in Louisiana. It is currently about 75 miles south of Grand Isle.
The pressure inside the storm is still rapidly dropping, indicating it is not done intensifying.
6 AM
Entergy Louisiana is reporting about 1,150 customers without power Sunday morning. Most of those outages are in Plaquemines and Orleans parishes.
Widespread outages across much of Southeast Louisiana are expected as Hurricane Ida rolls through. Some parish officials have said these outages could last for days or weeks.
5:30 AM
Hurricane Ida has tracked a bit east over the last 24 hours, although forecasters continue to urge residents tracking the storm to not pay as much attention to the exact path it follows.
Ida is expected to bring widespread damage across much of the state, regardless of where exactly it makes landfall. The current track has landfall somewhere east of Grand Isle before it heads northwest towards Houma and Baton Rouge.
For a full breakdown of what to expect in your area, check out our parish-by-parish impact map:
5:20 AM
Plaquemines Parish is already seeing winds of up to 40 MPH as Hurricane Ida approaches, and emergency management officials say conditions are only going to deteriorate from here.
With a small wobble to the east, Ida could come over land in Plaquemines Parish. The last time that happened was Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
"It's going to be devastating for the next 24 hours in Southeast Louisiana," said Patrick Harvey, the parish's director of emergency preparedness.
5 AM
Ida's top wind speeds are now topping 145 MPH. Gusts are up to 165 MPH in certain places.
The storm is continuing to strengthen as it approaches the Louisiana coast.
The cone of uncertainty is continuing to narrow, but wobbles in the storm's path will likely continue up until lanfall.
Ida is currently 80 miles south of Grand Isle.
4:30 AM
Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng spoke with WWL-TV about the last preparations in the parish as the storm approaches.
4 AM
The National Hurricane Center has released the latest track for Hurricane Ida, which has strengthened again ahead of landfall. The storm is now less than 100 miles from the coast, and continues to grow in intensity, despite time running out for its continued growth.
WWL-TV Meteorologist Michelle Morgan says the storm could reach Category 5, but that forecast is looking less likely because there simply isn't enough time for further rapid intensification.
3:30 AM
Louisiana is seeing the first outer bands from Hurricane Ida, a powerful Category 4 storm expected to see landfall sometime Sunday afternoon.
All of Southeast Louisiana could see hurricane-force winds and flooding rain from the storm, which is expected to cross Louisiana Sunday and Monday.
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