8:45pm Sunday Update on Hurricane Ida

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Tragically, it looks like Ida turned into the monster we feared. Some items of importance:
  • New Orleans has been battered by winds of 80 to 110 mph most of the late afternoon and evening. One hundred percent of New Orleans and Orleans Parish (they call counties parishes in Louisiana) has lost power. Officials report "catastrophic" damage to the transmission network. That means the tall metal towers, etc., have been damage. That means days or even weeks without power.
  • Across the state, more than two million people are without power.
These giant electrical towers cannot be replaced overnight
  • There are varying reports as to the condition of the pumps. There is a flash flood emergency warning out for inner city New Orleans and there are reports the backup power could fail.
  • One major bridge has received structural damage. 
  • At least two hospitals have lost their roofs.
  • I-10 is completely closed due to debris. 
  • We don't know about casualties yet. 
The storm is finally starting to weaken. However, there will be the potential for deadly flooding all the way to New England. 

Note: I do not try to cover the news aspect of storms. That is well handled by Ginger Zee and others. This will be the last update for Sunday.

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