Hurricane Ida Strengthens While Louisiana Braces For A Severe Blow

https://www.npr.org/2021/08/28/ [login to see] /hurricane-ida-strengthens-while-louisiana-braces-for-a-severe-blow
Forecasters warned residents along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast to rush preparations Saturday ahead of an intensifying Hurricane Ida, which is expected to bring winds as high as 130 mph (209 kph), life-threatening storm surge and flooding rain when it slams ashore in Louisiana on Sunday.

Coastal highways saw heavy traffic as people moved to get out of the path of Ida, which the National Hurricane Center warned could grow to an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm. Trucks pulling saltwater fishing boats and campers streamed away from the coast Interstate 65 in south Alabama. Traffic jams clogged Interstate 10 heading out of New Orleans.

"We're going to catch it head-on," said Bebe McElroy as she prepared to leave her home in the coastal Louisiana village of Cocodrie. "I'm just going around praying, saying, 'Dear Lord, just watch over us.'"

Ida was poised to strike Louisiana 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts. A Category 3 storm, Katrina was blamed for 1,800 deaths and caused levee breaches and catastrophic flooding in New Orleans, which took years to recover.