Hurricane Ida: Thousands of Louisiana residents could be without power for weeks, officials warn

Louisiana residents now face the possibility of weeks without power in the stifling, late-summer heat

Officials have warned that Louisiana residents could be left without power for weeks after Hurricane Ida tore through the state with 150mph winds and ravaged the electrical grid.

Ida made landfall on Sunday to become the fifth strongest hurricane to ever hit the US mainland, as it swamped the Louisiana coast, trapping hundreds of people in high-water.

The hurricane collapsed a giant tower that carries key transmission lines over the Mississippi River to the New Orleans area, causing more than 2,000 miles of transmission lines to go down.

It has so far been blamed for two deaths - a motorist who drowned in New Orleans and a person hit by a falling tree outside Baton Rouge.

But with many roads impassable and phone lines down across swathes of the region, there are fears that more people will die as many are feared to be missing.

A flooded city is seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in Lafitte, Louisiana Credit: David J Phillip/AP

The governor’s office described the damage to the power grid as “catastrophic”, with more than one million homes and businesses in Louisiana and Mississippi left without power.

In Louisiana, 18 water systems serving some 255,000 people were knocked out of service, while 39 medical facilities were operating on generator power.

Flooding across large parts of Louisiana has left those who stayed in their homes trapped in them, ITV News US Correspondent Emma Murphy reports

John Bel Edwards, the governor of Louisiana, told a news conference: “There are certainly more questions than answers.

"I can’t tell you when the power is going to be restored.

"I can’t tell you when all the debris is going to be cleaned up and repairs made.

“But what I can tell you is we are going to work hard every day to deliver as much assistance as we can.”

Christina Stephens, a spokesperson for Mr Edwards, added that given the level of destruction: “We’re going to have many more confirmed fatalities.”

Residents are rescued from floodwaters by members of the Louisiana State Fire Marshall’s Office Credit: Gerald Herbert/AP

The comments came as thousands of National Guard members were deployed to aid the huge search and rescue effort, which has seen residents retreat to their roofs and desperately post their addressees on social media for crews to save them from rising floodwater.

The governor’s office confirmed that over 2,200 evacuees were staying in 41 shelters, a number expected to rise as people continue to escape flooded homes.

Damage is seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in Houma, La. Credit: AP

Local, state and federal rescuers had rallied together to save at least 671 people by Monday afternoon, with LaPlace, a town squeezed between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, among the hardest hit areas.

By late Monday, the storm had been downgraded to a tropical depression with winds of up to 35mph, though forecasters still warned of heavy rain and a flood threat for parts of the Tennessee and Ohio valleys.

Members of the Louisiana State Fire Marshal's office rescue people from floodwaters in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. Credit: AP

Initial estimates indicated that Slidell, Louisiana, was drenched with at least 15.7 inches of rain, while New Orleans received nearly 14 inches.The hurricane blew ashore on the 16th anniversary of Katrina, the 2005 storm that breached New Orleans’ levees, devastated the city and was blamed for 1,800 deaths.

Two dead and many trapped by floods as Hurricane Ida hits Louisiana
Aftermath of Hurricane Ida leave thousands without power or clean water