Hurricane Ida - live Thousands flee as extremely dangerous category 4 storm bears down on Louisiana

Related video: ‘Be prepared’ for ‘very dangerous’ storm, warns Biden

Hurricane Ida is expected to make landfall in the United States on Sunday as an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm that could bring a life-threatening storm surge, potentially catastrophic wind damage and flooding rainfall, officials have warned.

The weather system threatens to plunge much of the Louisiana shoreline under water, having intensified faster than experts had predicted on Saturday. Residents of the Gulf Coast have been evacuating their homes and businesses have been shut down.

Early on Sunday Ida was a Category 4 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, the National Hurricane Center said. At 4 am CDT (9 am GMT) it was located about 75 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River, with top sustained winds of 140 mph.

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said on Saturday that the storm could be the state’s worst direct hit by a hurricane since the 1850s.

Show latest update 1630252994Photos show severe flooding from Hurricane Ida in Mississippi

Cars drive through flood waters along route 90 as outer bands of Hurricane Ida arrive Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021, in Gulfport, Miss. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Harrison County W Wittmann Road in Pass Christian, Miss. floods in the early morning of Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021 as a result of the arrival of Hurricane Ida. (Hunter Dawkins/The Gazebo Gazette via AP)

Highway 90 westbound in Pass Christian, Miss. overflows with flooding waters early as a result of the arrival of Hurricane Ida on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. (Hunter Dawkins/The Gazebo Gazette via AP)

Henderson Avenue in Pass Christian, Miss. completely flooded as a result of the arrival of Hurricane Ida early Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. (Hunter Dawkins/The Gazebo Gazette via AP)

Nathan Place29 August 2021 17:031630252565Violent wind and waves seen in Grand Isle, Louisiana

Video from Fox 8 NOLA reporter Zack Fradella shows brutal winds and waves rocking the island town of Grand Isle, Louisiana.

Nathan Place29 August 2021 16:561630251732Flooding worsens in Biloxi, Mississippi

Flooding has intensified in Biloxi, Mississippi, where a casino’s parking garage was underwater by late Sunday morning.

Reporter Justin Mitchell captured the scene on video.

Nathan Place29 August 2021 16:421630251485Massive storm waves seen in Alabama

Startling video footage shows enormous waves breaking on the shores of Fort Morgan, Alabama.

US weather authorities had predicted that Alabama would be among the states affected by “life-threatening flash and urban flooding” from Hurricane Ida.

Nathan Place29 August 2021 16:381630250992Louisiana governor: ‘We’re as ready as we can be’

Governor John Bel Edwards says Louisiana is “as ready as we can be” for Hurricane Ida, but the storm will be “a very serious test” of the state’s levee’s systems.

“It’s going to be a very, very challenging storm for our state, and it comes at a very difficult time as well,” the governor told CNN, explaining that hospitals are already filled with Covid patients, making it difficult for them to take on new patients hurt in the storm.

Nathan Place29 August 2021 16:291630250102Weather authorities predict ‘extremely life-threatening storm surge’ and ‘catastrophic wind damage’ from Ida

US weather authorities are predicting an “extremely life-threatening storm surge,” “catastrophic wind damage,” power outages, and “life-threatening flash and urban flooding” in Louisiana and Mississippi due to Hurricane Ida.

The dire warnings were announced by the National Hurricane Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Twitter.

Nathan Place29 August 2021 16:151630248761New Orleans closed massive flood gates ahead of storm

New Orleans on Saturday closed its extensive network of flood gates in preparation for Hurricane Ida. This included the gigantic Lake Borgne Surge Barrier, which can be seen from space.

Nathan Place29 August 2021 15:521630247878Ida will test New Orleans’ post-Katrina protections

After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, the city embarked on a massive public works project to protect itself from future storms. Hurricane Ida will test those protections.

In the past 16 years, the federal government has spent $14.5 billion on building levees, pumps, seawalls, floodgates, and drainage in and around New Orleans. As Ida approaches, some experts think the city is ready.

“The post-Katrina system is so different than what was in place before,” US Army Corps of Engineers spokesperson Matt Roe has said.

Nathan Place29 August 2021 15:371630246832Authorities tell New Orleans residents to ‘shelter in place immediately'

In a post retweeted by Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards, the National Weather Service has warned all New Orleans residents to shelter in place “immediately.”

“If you are not in shelter, shelter in place immediately,” National Weather Service New Orleans tweeted. “Go to an interior room or a small room with no windows. Stay put during this time.”

Nathan Place29 August 2021 15:201630245892Ida may cause tornadoes, National Weather Service predicts

Hurricane Ida may cause tornadoes and supercells after it makes landfall, according to the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center.

“Hurricane Ida will make landfall later this morning in SE Louisiana, and continue moving northwestward and inland through the afternoon,” the Center said in a tweet. “The threat for supercells and a few tornadoes will increase today in the outer convective bands to the northeast and east of the center of Ida.”

Nathan Place29 August 2021 15:04

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