US Coastal Residents Must Leave As Hurricane Ida Threats Categorized As Extremely Dangerous

Photo illustration of Hurricane Ida (Richard Hewat/Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Hurricane Ida on Saturday, August 28 raged over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Tens of thousands have fled the coastal areas. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden pledged aid to help states recover as soon as the storm passes.

Forecasters said Hurricane Ida could hit the US on Sunday as an "extremely hazardous" Category 4 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, producing winds of 140 miles per hour (225 kph), heavy rains, and tidal waves that can submerge most of Louisiana's coastline by several feet.

As of Saturday afternoon, Ida was about 240 miles (386 km) southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, carrying winds of 105 miles per hour (169 kilometers per hour) and heading toward the Louisiana coast, the National Hurricane Center said.

"We are concerned about the development of the eruption just before landing", said Jim Foerster, chief meteorologist at DTN, which provides weather advice to oil and transport companies.

Flooding from Hurricane Ida's waves - high water driven by storm winds - could reach between 3 and 4.5 meters around the mouth of the Mississippi River, with lower levels extending eastward along the adjacent coastlines of Mississippi and Alabama, the NHC said.

Officials ordered the evacuation of low-lying and coastal areas, jamming highways and causing some gas stations to run out of fuel as residents and tourists fled the coast.

"I left Fourchon last night at 8 and it was a ghost town", said Andre LeBlanc, a sports fishing captain speaking from his home in Lafayette, Louisiana. "We were the last to get out of there".

Estimated power outage

General services are bringing in additional crew and equipment to deal with the expected power outage. Hundreds of thousands of homes could be darkened as Hurricane Ida brings strong winds to Louisiana and as far east as Mobile, Alabama, said DTN's Foerster.

Biden on Saturday said 500 federal emergency response workers were in Texas and Louisiana to respond to the storm. Aid workers have been "in close coordination with electric utilities to restore power as soon as possible", Biden said at a briefing with Federal Emergency Management Agency officials.

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, whose state has been reeling from the public health crisis stemming from the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Ida's winds would be strong and spread across an area of 300 miles.

"We have a very serious situation in our hands," Edwards said at one briefing. "This will be one of the strongest hurricanes to hit the state of Louisiana since at least the 1850s".

The state had no plans to evacuate hospitals now pressured by the influx of COVID-19 patients, he said. There were more than 3,400 new infections reported as of Friday, and about 2,700 people were hospitalized with the virus.

"We've spoken to hospitals to make sure their generators are working, that they have more water than usual, that they have PPE", Edwards said.

Reduction of production of oil, fuel

US energy companies cut offshore oil production by 91% and gasoline refiners cut operations at a Louisiana plant in the path of the storm. Regional fuel prices rose to anticipate production losses.

Phillips 66 is closing the Alliance refinery on the Louisiana coast, and PBF Energy Inc. is reducing its Chalmette, Louisiana processing, said a person familiar with the matter.

Exxon Mobil Corp. is reducing production at its Baton Rouge, Louisiana refinery, said a source familiar with the plant's operations.

Gasoline demand in Louisiana rose 71 percent for the week ended Friday, said Patrick DeHaan, head of oil analysis at tracking firm GasBuddy.

Ida, the ninth so-called hurricane and fourth hurricane of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, may exceed the strength of Hurricane Laura, the last Category 4 hurricane to strike Louisiana, by the time it hits, forecasters said.

The region was devastated in August 2005 by Hurricane Katrina, which killed more than 1,800 people.

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