Governor John Bel Edwards says Hurricane Ida could be the strongest storm to hit Louisiana since the 1850s. Ida is expected to make landfall Sunday afternoon in Terrebonne Parish with 140 mile per hour winds and will continue to produce hurricane-force winds for at least another 100 miles as it moves north.
“As so while the storm will weaken after it makes landfall, it’s such a strong storm at the onset that’s it’s going to be extremely powerful as far as north as Baton Rouge and even further,” said Edwards.
Edwards says Hurricane Ida could bring 110 mile per hour winds or higher from Lafayette to Mississippi and as far north as the Louisiana-Mississippi state line.
“Last year with Laura we had very strong winds extending through most of the state, because of how strong it was and how large that storm was, but we are going to see something very similar with Hurricane Ida,” said Edwards.
Ida arrives in Louisiana on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Storm surge damaged levees that produced catastrophic flooding that killed over one thousand people.
Since then, according to the Association Press, the federal government has spent over 14-billion dollars on levees, pumps, seawalls, floodgates, and drainage to protect the Crescent City and surrounding areas. Edwards says that area of the state is more protected than ever.
“This system is going to be tested, there’s no doubt, the people of Louisiana are going to be tested, but we are resilient and tough people and we are going to get through this,” said Edwards.
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