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The storm's long-term track takes it north and then east, with a possible impact on the Northeast in the middle of next week.
Ida, the ninth-named storm of the 2021 Atlantic season, is expected to intensify further Saturday, Aug. 28 into Sunday, Aug. 29, with projected winds of 100 to 110 miles per hour or more just south of the mouth of the Mississippi River.
Landfall is projected to be Sunday afternoon or evening near Lake Charles, Louisiana, putting New Orleans on the dangerous right side of the storm. Sunday is the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast.
Ida is moving northwest at a speed of between 16 and 18 mph with maximum sustained winds of 80 miles per hour on Saturday morning. It's located about 150 miles southwest of Havana, Cuba.
The National Hurricane Center has issued hurricane and storm surge watches for portions of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
- For the latest projected path for Tropical Storm Ida, see the first and second images above.
- For projected rainfall amounts for Hurricane Ida, click on the third image above.
- For a look at the levels of impact of Ida by region, click on the fourth image above.
The storm strengthened on Friday, becoming larger, with hurricane -force-winds extending farther out from the storm's center.
Life-threatening storm surges of 7 to 11 feet are expected, along with widespread rainfall of 8 to 16 inches, with isolated amounts of as high as 20 inches of rain, according to the National Hurricane Center, which says potential impacts of the storm could be "devastating to catastrophic," and include:
- Structural damage to sturdy buildings, some with complete roof and wall failures.
- Complete destruction of mobile homes.
- Damage greatly accentuated by large airborne projectiles.
- Locations may be uninhabitable for weeks or months.
- Numerous large trees snapped or uprooted along with fences and roadway signs blown over.
- Many roads impassable from large debris, and more within urban or heavily wooded places. Many bridges, causeways, and access routes impassable.
- Widespread power and communications outages.
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