Biden Calls Hurricane Ida 'Very Dangerous'

“Ida is turning into a very very dangerous storm,” President Biden remarked during a briefing with FEMA on the ongoing preparations for the hurricane.

Hurricane Ida is growing in size and power as it moves north across the Gulf of Mexico toward Louisiana, and New Orleans is bracing for disaster -- clearing out hospital wards, shutting down oil refineries and forcing residents of low-lying neighborhoods to flee.

Ida slammed into Cuba Friday night and is moving north toward the U.S. Gulf Coast with winds that are expected to reach 130 miles (209 kilometers) per hour, down from 140 mph earlier, and a wall of water that may reach 15 feet in height. The storm was about 430 miles from New Orleans Saturday with winds of 85 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory at 10 a.m. local time. It’s expected to make landfall Sunday night or early Monday morning.

The city of New Orleans is asking residents to evacuate as soon as possible or prepare to shelter in place Saturday evening, according to a text alert sent late Friday. The storm could damage close to 1 million homes along the coast if it intensifies as forecast, with potential reconstruction costs estimated to exceed $220 billion, according to CoreLogic.

With winds strong enough to destroy dwellings and knock out power for weeks or longer, areas that suffer a direct hit could be “uninhabitable for weeks or months,” according to the hurricane center.

There’s little in Ida’s way to stop it from ramping up to the second-most destructive category of storm given the deep eddy of 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 Celsius) sea water that it will traverse before it roars ashore, said Todd Crawford, director of meteorology at commercial forecaster Atmospheric G2. Warm water is like fuel to tropical cyclones.

“In an unfortunate case of very bad luck, the expected track of Ida will take it directly over an usually warm pool of water in the northern Gulf on Sunday, which is the primary reason for rapid intensification,” Crawford said.

The storm’s winds hasn’t been strengthening as rapidly as forecast Friday, but it’s showing signs it could grow in size soon, the hurricane center said. While the winds may not reach the earlier maximum of 140 mph, it will still bring a devastating surge to the coastline and drop heavy rain inland.

Lousiana’s capital, Baton Rouge, could face historic rain and flooding, Crawford said.