“The capacity of hospitals all around this region, from Texas to Florida, is extremely limited,” said the city health director, Dr Jennifer Avegno, on Friday evening.Īt the White House, Biden told people in the path of the storm: “Have supplies for your household and follow guidance from local authorities. Officials in New Orleans have not evacuated hospitals due to limited capacity elsewhere. Louisiana and other states in the deep south have among the lowest US rates of vaccination, which has enabled the Delta variant to rip through the region, leading to record hospitalizations. There were queues at hardware stores as those who chose to stay behind stocked up on supplies. In the city, boarded-up businesses and lines for gas stations dotted many of the busiest streets. Ida escalated so quickly, she said, there had been no time to mandatorily evacuate the entire city. The I-10 highway out of New Orleans was gridlocked after Cantrell ordered a mandatory evacuation for those outside the levee protection system and voluntary evacuation for those inside. What we learned, particularly during Katrina, we are first responders, all of us, our neighbours, we’re all first responders.” Check on your neighbours, check on your friends, of course your family. “Look, this is our time, your time, to prepare yourselves. But she also warned that residents would have to look after themselves for a while. It’s rapidly growing, it’s intensifying, and if you’re voluntarily evacuating our city now is the time to leave.”Įmergency responders, power crews and others were ready to move in when it was safe, Cantrell said. If you’re staying you need to be prepared for damaging wind, power outages, heavy rain, tornadoes … this storm in no way will be weakening, there’s always an opportunity for the storm to strengthen.
“Hopefully that’s your home in our city, but in a safe space. “ need to make sure that you are in a safe place, everyone, whether you’re going to leave voluntarily or stay on site hunkered down, wherever that is,” Cantrell told reporters. The mayor of New Orleans, LaToya Cantrell, said the focus of emergency responders had already switched to the aftermath of the storm, as the window of opportunity for evacuations was narrowing rapidly. At a briefing with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), the president repeatedly told residents: “Pay attention and be prepared.” The Democrat activated the entire state national guard.įrom the White House, Joe Biden approved federal emergency assistance for Louisiana and other southern states. The governor of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards, said Sunday would be “a very difficult anniversary for people … our system and people are going to be tested.”
Katrina arrived in Louisiana in 2005 as a powerful category 3 storm – weaker than Ida’s projected strength. Shortly before the storm strengthened to category 2 status out in the Gulf of Mexico, the mayor of New Orleans told residents to get out or hunker down.įorecast to arrive on Sunday evening with 140mph winds, Ida was likely to come ashore on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the devastating storm that hit New Orleans and other areas along the Gulf coast, killing more than 1,800 people and destroying hundreds of thousands of homes.
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