The Mississippi River rose by nearly seven feet due to the storm surge from Hurricane Ida. The storm surge and the 150 mph winds were enough to stop the flow of the river and actually cause it to move in the opposite direction.
“During that time, the flow of the river slowed from about 2 feet per second down to about half a foot per second in the other direction,” Scott Perrien, a supervising hydrologist with the USGS Lower Mississippi Gulf Water Science Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, told CNN.
Perrien said that Ida is causing flooding up and down the river and warned that it will only worsen as the storm moves inland.
The storm surge was so powerful that two ferries broke from their moorings and were floating uncontrolled down the river.
As Hurricane Ida continues to hit the state of Louisiana at record wind speeds, a powerful video showed early devastation brought on by the storm.
WDSU in New Orleans shared a footage sent by a viewer on Sunday (August 29) afternoon which shows the roof of Lady of the Sea Hospital in Galliano, Louisiana being blown off by the hurricane.
Ida made landfall near Port Fourchon Sunday afternoon as a Category 4 hurricane and was moving over Galliano and Golden Meadow as of 3:45 p.m. local time.
The National Hurricane Center confirmed Ida reached wind speeds of 150 MPH, tying Hurricane Katrina on the 16th anniversary of the devastating storm, as well as Laura (2020) and the Last Island Hurricane (1856) as the most powerful storms to ever hit the state.
“We can sum it up by saying this will be one of the strongest hurricanes to hit anywhere in Louisiana since at least the 1850s,” said Gov. John Bel Edwards at a news conference ahead of the storm on Saturday (August 28) via the New York Times.