Hurricane Ida has hit parts of Cuba and is poised to strike Louisiana with its fury on Katrina’s birthday

Hurricane Ida passed this Friday from tropical storm to hurricane after hitting Isla de la Juventud, Cuba, and forecasts predict that it will continue to strengthen until it becomes a Category 3 hurricane before making landfall on the coast of Louisiana, United States , Saturday evening or early Sunday. .

So far, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards has said the emergency state, ordered early evacuations and indicated that Ida could even reach Category 4.

According to the Cuban Meteorological Institute (Insmet), Ida, which started out as a storm turned into Category 1 hurricane before hitting Cuban soil, where it hit the fishing village of La Coloma, in Pinar del Río, with sustained winds of 130 km / h.

Authorities reported that 2,461 people had been evacuated before the arrival of this meteorological phenomenon.

The hurricane, which hit the municipality of Isla de la Juventud in southwestern Cuba on Friday, was moving northwest at around 24 km / h, with maximum sustained winds of 130 km / h and stronger gusts, said the Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC).

It is expected to hit US shores on Sunday as an “extremely dangerous” hurricane, the agency said.

After crossing Pinar del Río from south to north, Ida will cross the southeast and central Gulf of Mexico and is expected to make landfall in western Louisiana. “like a category 4 hurricane“US meteorologists said in a tweet.

According to the hurricane center, Ida can generate “total precipitation” of up to “20 inches” in western Cuba and cause “flash floods.”

As the surface layer of the oceans warms due to climate change, cyclones become more powerful and carry more water, posing a growing threat to coastal communities, the scientists explained.

Storm surges, amplified by rising sea levels, can be particularly devastating and the NHC has warned that Ida could cause “large and destructive waves” in the country’s western coastal areas.

Ida came at a time when Cuba, with 11.2 million inhabitants, faced a high rate of coronavirus infections, which defeated their health services, the pride and column of their social system, as well as those who died from the virus.

The Minister of Health, José Ángel Portal, warned via his Twitter account that the country faces a “double threat”, in reference to the pandemic and the passage of the hurricane. “Dealing with a meteorological phenomenon of this nature, in the midst of the most complex epidemiological scenario that the country has known since the start of the pandemic, implies an increased effort on the part of our public health system and of the whole of the population, “he said. .

In the same social network, President Miguel Díaz-Canel called for “discipline and responsibility not to regret the loss of life”.

Cuba has reported 82 deaths and 7,639 covid-19 infections in the past 24 hours, adding 4,902 deaths and 627,311 cases since March 2020, when the first people infected with the virus were recorded in the country.

On the night of this Friday it was reported that Hurricane Ida entered the Gulf of Mexico with winds of 130 km / h and it was determined that practically the friction with the island of Cuba did not decrease in intensity and prepare to reach New Orleans with forecast winds of 222km / h and gusts of 268km / h to switch to category 4.

Between the evacuation and the memory of Katrina

In New Orleans, United States, the image of the destructive passage of Hurricane Katrina, which killed the most people during the Atlantic hurricane season in 2005. Thus, in the face of the threat of Ida, President Joe Biden issued a federal declaration of emergency and the evacuation of parts of Louisiana and of the oil rigs has been ordered.

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency and urged citizens on Friday to take shelter before the storm hits land, which is expected around dawn Sunday.

“By tomorrow night, tropical storm force winds will begin to move toward the Louisiana coast. So, the next 24 hours are very important. Now is the time to finish your preparations. (…) When night falls tomorrow, they must be where they plan to take shelter from the storm, ”Bel transmitted.

Ida will arrive in the coastal town on the anniversary of deadly Hurricane Katrina, which hit the region 16 years ago, and after passing through Cuba, experts predict the cyclone will strengthen until Category 3 or even 4, out of a maximum of 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, the level at which New Orleans should have an impact.

“Ida certainly has the potential to be really bad… It’s going to go fast, so the trip across the Gulf of Cuba to Louisiana will only take a day and a half,” said Brian McNoldy, hurricane researcher at the ‘University of Miami. . . .

To all of this, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell ordered the evacuation of all people living outside the dike system that protects the area from flooding.

“With a direct hit, I don’t know what will be left of it, if there’s anything left … Anyone who isn’t worried has something wrong, “said Captain Ross Eichorn, a fishing guide in southwest New Orleans.

By the time it reaches the central Gulf Coast on Sunday, Ida could dump 20 to 16 inches of rain, and even up to 20 inches, in isolated areas from southeastern Louisiana to the Mississippi coast and the United States. Alabama until Monday morning. , according to weather forecast.

With agency information

GRB