With no significant changes to Hurricane Ida’s path or strength, New Orleans officials urged citizens to either evacuate voluntarily or hunker down by the end of Saturday night.
The storm is expected to make landfall as a category four hurricane Sunday afternoon, with New Orleans beginning to see heavy rain and wind late Saturday night. Mayor LaToya Cantrell and her administration said during a press conference that those staying inside the levee protection system need to be prepared for flooding and strong winds that will almost certainly cause power outages.
“Finish gathering your supplies today,” said Collin Arnold, the Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. “Including water, nonperishable items, flashlights, battery-powered radio and medication for 72 hours.”
Lauren Nash of the National Weather Service said that there is still time for the storm to change and strengthen even more. Nash predicts the strong winds could also cause tornadoes.
And as the city moves to prepare for post-storm evacuations, Nash warns that the heat index will be over 100 degrees, early next week.
While the storm is expected to bring 10-15 inches of rain, Ramsey Green says that New Orleans has faced its fifth wettest spring in history, yet hasn’t seen substantial flooding. However, if the city receives a large amount of rain in a short amount of time, it could see flooding, warned Arnold.
Green, the city’s deputy chief administrative officer for Infrastructure, credits this to the 90-plus miles of subsurface drainage the city has replaced in the past three years, as well as the 346 miles of drainage the city has flushed.
“This is a different city than it was August 28, 2006, in terms of infrastructure and safety,” said Arnold, speaking of Hurricane Katrina. “We’ll be in a much better place than we were 16 years ago.
Both Entergy and the National Guard have moved extra personnel to the city for emergencies.
Officials recommend anyone evacuating leave with a full tank of gas. But with several gas stations in the area reporting they are low or out of gas, officials recommend using the site Gasbuddy.com to locate fuel.
For weather-related warnings, New Orleans officials said to text NolaReady to 77295 or call 211, and for those looking for shelter outside of the city, text LaShelter to 898211. To be prepared for any blockages in roadways, the site Streetwise.nola.gov will be updated frequently.