Flooding Begins as Storm Surge, Outer Bands of Hurricane Ida Move onto Louisiana Coast

Hurricane Ida is already causing flooding in southern Louisiana as the predicted storm surge and outer rain bands move onshore. The storm is expected to push a tidal surge of up to 16 feet near the mouth of the Mississippi.

Reports and tweets from southeast Louisiana are starting to show flooding moving onto the coastal areas as a potentially “catastrophic” Hurricane Ida prepares to make landfall on Sunday.

PM Breaking News tweeted video from Grand Isle, Louisiana, Sunday morning showing storm flooding caused by the early storm surge. It also shows the increasing winds in the area.

Currently, Weather Underground reports winds in Grand Isle at 27 miles per hour with gusts to 48. The main parts of the storm are expected to move inland later today as a major Category 4 or possibly Category 5.

The current path of the storm is expected to bring Hurricane Ida onshore southwest of New Orleans, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reports. Maximum sustained winds are currently at 150 miles per hour.

The well-organized eye of Ida is located just off the southern coast of Louisiana and appears to be tracking toward Houma and Thibodaux. This places the city of New Orleans directly on the “dirty side” of the storm where the highest rainfall totals could occur.

The storm moves into the area during the anniversary of 2005’s deadly Hurricane Katrina that left approximately 1,800 people dead and caused $125 billion in damages. The track of Katrina placed New Orleans on the storm’s western, or clean side. However, the storm surge and inland rains causing flooding led to the collapse of the levees and deadly flooding.