VIDEO: Mississippi Officials Tell Residents to ‘Hunker Down’ as Hurricane Ida Moves into State

Mississippi residents are preparing for Hurricane Ida’s arrival which may bring a strong storm surge, heavy rainfall, flooding, and possibly tornadoes, WAPT reported Sunday.

Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Executive Director Stephen McCraney advised citizens to be ready for the storm.

“Today and tomorrow will be very active weather days. Now’s the time to hunker down as Hurricane Ida moves through the state. Please stay weather aware. Make sure you have multiple ways to receive warnings,” he said:

“The entire state will feel some effects from this storm,” McCraney continued, adding officials understood residents felt anxiety due to the storm.

“Not only is this a record-breaking hurricane, it’s also hitting on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina,” he added, assuring people officials were ready with federal and state supplies on standby.

Breitbart News reported the “extremely dangerous” Category 4 Hurricane Ida was poised to hit southeastern Louisiana and New Orleans, while the National Hurricane Center predicted it would bring a “catastrophic storm surge” and hurricane-force winds:

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.

Journalist Andrés Fuentes shared video footage Sunday of a boulevard in Waveland, Mississippi, saying it was “completely underwater as Hurricane Ida comes ashore.”

“It’s a grim setting for the storm on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which wiped out a lot of the Mississippi town,” he continued:

More video footage showed scenes from Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi as people braced for the severe weather:

“Areas along the Mississippi Gulf Coast were already seeing flooding Sunday morning and conditions were expected to worsen,” the WAPT article said.

WAPT’s Ross Adams shared a clip Sunday of heavy rains in Northeast Jackson, Mississippi: