Louisiana braces for dangerous Hurricane Ida | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
June 14, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 2025
Louisiana braces for dangerous Hurricane Ida

USA

Reuters
29 August, 2021, 05:55 pm
Last modified: 29 August, 2021, 06:17 pm

Related News

  • Denmark approves US military bases on Danish soil as Trump eyes Greenland
  • US to pull some personnel from the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran
  • Troops in LA can detain individuals, military official says, as protests spread
  • US mulls giving millions to controversial Gaza aid foundation, sources say
  • America’s cold shoulder to foreign students is worrying Asia

Louisiana braces for dangerous Hurricane Ida

The storm intensified faster than officials had predicted on Saturday, as residents of the Gulf Coast evacuated and businesses shut down, and gathered more strength overnight

Reuters
29 August, 2021, 05:55 pm
Last modified: 29 August, 2021, 06:17 pm
Louisiana braces for dangerous Hurricane Ida
  • Ida could be worst direct hit in 170 years -governor
  • Storm surge, flooding rains to reach inland communities

Hurricane Ida was expected to make landfall in the United States on Sunday as an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm that could plunge much of the Louisiana shoreline under water as the state grapples with a Covid-19 surge already taxing hospitals.

The storm intensified faster than officials had predicted on Saturday, as residents of the Gulf Coast evacuated and businesses shut down, and gathered more strength overnight.

Southern Louisiana is still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Laura from a year ago. The state also has the third-highest incidence of Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people in the U.S over the past seven days.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

By early Sunday Ida was a Category 4 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. At 4 am CDT (0900 GMT) it was located about 75 miles (120 km) south of the mouth of the Mississippi River, carrying top sustained winds of 140 mph (220 kph).

Ida could inflict a life-threatening storm surge, potentially catastrophic wind damage and flooding rainfall, the NHC said.

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said on Saturday that the storm could be the state's worst direct hit by a hurricane since the 1850s.

Louisiana was also devastated 16 years ago this week by Hurricane Katrina, which killed more than 1,800 people.

The state is not planning to evacuate hospitals now strained by an influx of Covid-19 patients, Edwards said.

"The implications of having a Category 4 storm while hospitals are full are beyond what we normally contemplate," Edwards said at a news conference Saturday afternoon.

There were more than 3,400 new infections reported on Friday, and about 2,700 people are hospitalized with the virus.

"We have been talking to hospitals to make sure that their generators are working, that they have way more water on hand than normal, that they have PPE on hand," Edwards said.

Officials ordered widespread evacuations of low-lying and coastal areas, jamming highways and leading some gasoline stations to run dry as residents and vacationers fled the seashore.

"This is a powerful and dangerous storm - it is moving faster than we had thought it would be, so we have a little less time to prepare," said Dr. Joseph Kanter, Louisiana's chief medical official. "There is a lot of Covid out there - there are a lot of risks out there."

Power outages expected

Utilities were bringing in extra crews and equipment to deal with expected power losses. President Joe Biden said he has coordinated with electric utilities and 500 federal emergency response workers were in Texas and Louisiana to respond to the storm. 

US energy companies reduced offshore oil production by 91% and gasoline refiners cut operations at Louisiana plants in the path of the storm. Regional fuel prices rose in anticipation of production losses and on increased demand due to evacuations.

Coastal and inland oil refineries began to cut production due to the storm. Phillips 66 shut its Alliance plant on the coast in Belle Chasse, while Exxon Mobil Corp cut production at its Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery on Saturday. 

Jean Paul Bourg, 39, was planning to ride out the storm in Morgan City, about 70 miles west of New Orleans. His wife's brother was recently released from the hospital after contracting Covid-19 and secured a generator to ensure access to oxygen if needed.

"You can't necessarily pile in with family members during Covid," Bourg said, after trimming trees and putting up plywood on his house. "More people than you'd think are sticking around."

Top News / World+Biz

USA / Hurricane Ida

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Missiles launched from Iran are seen from Jerusalem, June 13, 2025. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
    Iran fires missiles at Israel in response to attacks; Trump says it's not too late for nuclear deal
  • Logo of National Citizen Party (NCP)
    People won't accept election date before July Charter is implemented: NCP on Yunus-Tarique meeting
  • Yunus-Tarique meeting: Jamaat says outcome positive for democracy, IAB says dispelled uncertainty from politics
    Yunus-Tarique meeting: Jamaat says outcome positive for democracy, IAB says dispelled uncertainty from politics

MOST VIEWED

  • Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner showing part of its registration "VT-ANB" in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave
    Air India Dreamliner crashes into Ahmedabad college hostel, kills over 290
  • File Photo of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus: UNB
    Prof Yunus to receive Harmony Award from King Charles today
  • Energy adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan with other government officials during a visit to Sylhet gas field on 13 June 2025. Photo: TBS
    I would disconnect gas supply to every home in Dhaka if I could: Energy adviser
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Bangladesh mulls settlements with tycoons over offshore wealth: BB governor tells FT
  • UCB declares no dividend for 2024 to comply with regulatory requirement
    UCB declares no dividend for 2024 to comply with regulatory requirement
  • UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus
    Disclosure of unconfirmed Yunus-Starmer meeting shows ‘diplomatic imprudence’: Analysts

Related News

  • Denmark approves US military bases on Danish soil as Trump eyes Greenland
  • US to pull some personnel from the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran
  • Troops in LA can detain individuals, military official says, as protests spread
  • US mulls giving millions to controversial Gaza aid foundation, sources say
  • America’s cold shoulder to foreign students is worrying Asia

Features

Photos: Collected

Kurtis that make a great office wear

8h | Mode
Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

2d | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

3d | Features
File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

4d | Features

More Videos from TBS

No Cash in ATMs: System Glitch or Something Deeper?

No Cash in ATMs: System Glitch or Something Deeper?

2h | TBS Today
Iran-Israel military power; who is ahead?

Iran-Israel military power; who is ahead?

4h | TBS World
Did the possibility of an Iran nuclear deal set back after the attack?

Did the possibility of an Iran nuclear deal set back after the attack?

6h | TBS World
IRGC chief Major General Hossein Salami killed in Israeli strike

IRGC chief Major General Hossein Salami killed in Israeli strike

7h | TBS World
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net