As Hurricane Ida roars closer to the Louisiana Gulf Coast today, it is going through some of the warmest ocean water in the world, and according to the National Hurricane Center, is forecast to hit at 155 mph (250 kph), just 1 mph shy of a Category 5 hurricane.
CTV News Canada is reporting that only four Category 5 hurricanes have made landfall in the United States, but the National Hurricane Center currently estimates that a total of 37 tropical cyclones between 1851 and 2021 have peaked as Category 5 hurricanes.
However, coincidence or just really strange, but Hurricane Ida is expected to make landfall early Sunday afternoon on the exact date Hurricane Katrina, a Category 5 storm ravaged Louisiana and Mississippi 16 years earlier.
Louisiana is preparing for a double whammy, of sorts. The state is already reeling from a resurgence of COVID-19 infections, due to low vaccination rates and the highly contagious delta variant.
Many hospitals are full with some not having any ICU beds and others are low on oxygen supplies. It is only hoped that patients won’t need to be transferred in the midst of the weather crisis. And shelters for those fleeing their homes carry an added risk of becoming flashpoints for new infections.
At the 10:00 a.m. advisory this morning, Ida was centered about 85 miles south of New Orleans late Sunday morning, rolling to the northwest at 13 mph. A Category 5 hurricane, top of the scale, has sustained winds of 157 miles per hour.
“This is a sight no one wants to see on satellite,” the weather service tweeted Sunday. “Ida … continues to approach southeastern Louisiana. This remains a serious, life-threatening situation.”
CNN News just reported that landfall for Hurricane Ida is imminent in Houma, Louisiana today. The nonprofit Cajun Navy Foundation is planning to send its Cajun Navy Ground Force to Houma on Monday once the situation is safe, foundation founder Rob Gaudet said.
