Louisiana bracing for Hurricane Ida impact on Sunday

Traffic on I-10 this afternoon.

Those living along the coast of Louisiana are bracing for Hurricane Ida which could be a category four hurricane by the time it makes landfall on Sunday.

Currently, Ida is a category one hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 km/h. Ida is expected to rapidly intensify soon.

The storm is about 565 km south-southeast of the Mouth of the Mississippi River. The National Hurricane Center says that preparations should be rushed to completion today along the northern Gulf Coast.

Gas stations are busy, traffic away from coastal areas is heavy. Business owners and homeowners were seen boarding up their properties on Friday and Saturday.

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell ordered a mandatory evacuation for areas outside the levee system and a voluntary evacuation for residents inside the system.

Storm surge of 10 to 15 feet is possible in some areas and the National Hurricane Center warns that overtopping of local levees outside of the Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System is possible.

Heavy rainfall from Ida will begin to impact the Louisiana coast Sunday morning, spreading northeast into the Lower Mississippi Valley later Sunday into Monday. Total rainfall accumulations of 8 to 16 inches with isolated maximum amounts of 20 inches are possible across southeast Louisiana and southern Mississippi through Monday.

This is likely to result in life-threatening flash and urban flooding impacts and significant riverine flooding impacts.

Rainfall totals of 4 to 8 inches are possible from northeastern Louisiana and central Mississippi into the Tennessee Valley. This is likely to result in considerable flash and riverine flooding impacts.