Hurricane Ida: more than 1m without power as New Orleans assesses damage
Officials warned of a lengthy wait of perhaps weeks for the restoration of power and, in some areas, running water. Entergy, the electricity company that serves New Orleans and the surrounding area, was unable to give an estimate of when power would be restored but warned that some areas faced a three-week wait or more.
At least nine Louisiana refineries were knocked out of action, or were operating at reduced capacity, the department of energy reported, accounting for 13% of the country’s oil production. That sparked fears of a nationwide spike in gas prices. In the New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward, a neighbourhood hammered by Katrina, power lines drooped and uprooted trees and pylons lined some roads. Wesley Foster, 74, stood on his porch and counted his blessings. The under-construction house next door was reduced to rubble – thankfully collapsing in the other direction.
Foster has lived in the Lower Ninth his entire life and survived Katrina. On Sunday night he huddled in his living room alone as he heard the building collapse. “It sounded like they dropped a bomb,” he said. “My heart jumped.”
As he peered out the window, the storm pounded his home: “It looked like a monster was trying to get inside.” A few blocks away a grocery store, the St Claude supermarket, caught fire overnight. Some residents congregated around the charred remains.
