WGNO

PHOTOS: Downed trees show the strength of Hurricane Ida

METAIRIE, La. (WGNO) — Hurricane Ida was one of the strongest storms to make landfall in Louisiana. The Category 4 storm hit on the same date Hurricane Katrina ravaged Louisiana and Mississippi 16 years earlier, coming ashore about 45 miles west of where Category 3 Katrina first struck land.

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The office of Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Ida caused “catastrophic” damage to the power grid, forcing hospitals, businesses, and private residents to rely on generators or go without refrigeration or air conditioning even as temperatures soar to close to 90 degrees.

Officials in New Orleans and surrounding areas are encouraging people who evacuated ahead of the storm to stay away in the immediate aftermath, because it remains unsafe to return amid downed power lines, flooded homes, snapped trees, and other destruction.

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