Ida Updates: Biden says hardest-hit states are resilient

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The Latest connected Hurricane Ida:

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has spoken with officials successful states pounded by Hurricane Ida, detailing the national effort to survey harm and guarantee entree to electricity, h2o and compartment telephone service.

The president said Monday that authorities officials should interaction the White House if they request further enactment — adjacent though the effort is being led by FEMA.

“We’ll get you what you request if we can,” Biden said. “The radical of Louisiana and Mississippi are resilient. But it’s successful moments similar these wherever we tin surely spot the powerfulness of authorities to respond to the needs of the people, if government’s prepared and if they respond.”

Also Monday, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said it had activated its Hurricane Response Team arsenic Hurricane Ida made its mode done the Gulf.

Based connected information from offshore relation reports submitted arsenic of precocious greeting Monday, unit person been evacuated from a full of 288 accumulation platforms, 51.43 percent of the 560 manned platforms successful the Gulf of Mexico.

Personnel person been evacuated from 11 rigs, equivalent to 100% of the 11 rigs of this benignant presently operating successful the Gulf. Rigs tin see respective types of offshore drilling facilities.

A full of 7 dynamically positioned rigs person moved disconnected determination retired of the storm’s projected path, arsenic a precaution.

It is estimated that astir 94.6% of the existent lipid accumulation successful the Gulf of Mexico has been unopen in, according to relation reports.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement estimates that astir 93.57% of the state accumulation successful the Gulf has been unopen in.

Production accusation included successful these reports is based connected the magnitude of lipid and state the relation expected to nutrient that day. The shut-in accumulation figures truthful are estimates, which the bureau compares to humanities production.

The facilities volition beryllium inspected aft the tempest has passed.

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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HURRICANE IDA:

Rescuers acceptable retired successful hundreds of boats and helicopters to scope radical trapped by floodwaters, and inferior repair crews rushed in, aft a furious Hurricane Ida swamped the Louisiana seashore and ravaged the electrical grid successful the sticky, late-summer heat.

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— As Ida leaves Gulf, analysts foresee modest economical damage

— No currency oregon state to tally from Ida: ‘We can’t spend to leave’

— Flood-ravaged Tennessee assemblage braces for Ida remnants

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HERE'S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

NEW ORLEANS — Mayor LaToya Cantrell says a operator successful New Orleans drowned during Hurricane Ida, which whitethorn rise the storm’s decease toll to two.

Cantrell says further details astir the decease would travel from the coroner’s office, but those were not instantly forthcoming.

“This lawsuit remains nether investigation,” coroner’s spokesperson Jason Melancon said erstwhile asked successful an email astir Cantrell’s statement. He would not reply circumstantial questions astir whether the coroner’s bureau is investigating a drowning decease oregon an Ida-related death.

A idiosyncratic besides was killed extracurricular Baton Rouge amid the tempest erstwhile a histrion fell connected a home, authorities said.

The sanction of either unfortunate person yet to beryllium released.

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NEW ORLEANS — Police successful New Orleans accidental they person received galore reports of stealing from stores and different businesses, and made respective arrests, successful the aftermath of Hurricane Ida.

“This volition not beryllium tolerated,” Police Chief Shaun Ferguson said astatine a Monday briefing. He specifically described what was occurring arsenic looting, saying, “This is simply a authorities felony, and we volition beryllium booking you accordingly.”

The constabulary main added of a tempest that has near wide damage, “This is not the clip to instrumentality accidental of our susceptible colonisation close now, which we each are susceptible astatine this constituent successful time.”

New Orleans constabulary are moving with the Louisiana National Guard to forestall thefts. Police are moving 12-hour shifts, and it’s “all hands connected deck,” Ferguson said.

The tempest damaged powerfulness and h2o systems successful galore parts of Louisiana and made connection difficult. AT&T said Monday that it has acceptable up a mobile operation astatine the Louisiana exigency preparedness and authorities constabulary compound successful the authorities superior of Baton Rouge, to effort and get compartment work moving for the governor’s bureau and different archetypal responders.

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WASHINGTON — U.S. wellness officials Monday declared nationalist wellness emergencies for Louisiana and Mississippi, seeking to suspend authorities reddish portion that whitethorn get successful the mode of providing assistance to radical affected by Hurricane Ida.

The exigency declaration by Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra puts a intermission connected definite outgo rules and different requirements that could go an unwelcome distraction for hospitals and doctors trying to supply services nether stressful conditions.

One illustration is simply a request that wellness attraction professionals beryllium licensed successful the authorities they supply care.

HHS has besides staged an incidental absorption squad successful Dallas to supply coordination of national wellness and aesculapian enactment aft Ida passes done the region. Another squad is providing enactment for radical needing kidney dialysis.

People successful affectional distress successful affected areas tin telephone 1-800-985-5990 for counseling help, oregon substance TalkWithUs to 66746.

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NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans residents faced a monolithic cleanup effort and perchance weeks without power. Whole toppled trees blocked streets, pulled down powerfulness lines, covered yards and damaged homes.

With powerfulness apt to beryllium retired for weeks, John Pope said helium would past without energy -- with assistance from neighbors who person a generator -- until a scheduled travel retired of municipality adjacent week.

Ehab Meselhe, a prof successful Tulane’s engineering school, planned to caput retired of municipality erstwhile helium and his woman finished cleaning up the histrion branches and limbs littering their yard. “I person different location successful Lafayette,” helium said. “Once powerfulness is back, we’ll travel back.”

A fewer blocks away, Hank Fanberg stuffed hurricane debris into a garbage backmost arsenic generators roared connected either broadside of his lightly damaged house. He said neighbors connected some sides person generators and they person some already offered, “so we’re going to beryllium successful bully signifier successful presumption of immoderate electricity.”

Sitting connected a screened structure portion listening to a battery-operated vigor and feeding her one-year-old daughter, Pamela Mitchell wasn’t definite what she would do. She had already spent a blistery and frightening nighttime astatine location portion Ida’s winds shrieked. She was reasoning astir trying to leave. But her 14-year-old daughter, Michelle, was determined to stay, preparing to cleanable retired the refrigerator and enactment perishables successful an crystal chest. “We went a week earlier -- with Zeta,” she said, recalling the hurricane that deed the metropolis past fall. “So, we’ll beryllium each right.”

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BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’ bureau says parishes that urged its residents to evacuate are encouraging radical to enactment distant successful the contiguous aftermath of Hurricane Ida due to the fact that it remains unsafe to instrumentality amid downed powerfulness lines, flooded homes, snapped trees and different destruction.

The New Orleans suburb of Jefferson Parish, for example, was estimating it could instrumentality astatine slightest 5 days to reconstruct the h2o strategy there. That's according to Edwards spokesperson Christina Stephens.

“The champion proposal is to enactment enactment wherever you are” if you evacuated, Stephens said. “People who person evacuated retired of the authorities should enactment wherever they are close now.”

With wide AT&T compartment work outages, galore radical were frantically trying to scope loved ones and were unsuccessful. But Stephens said radical shouldn’t instrumentality from their evacuation points to effort and cheque connected household and friends. Just due to the fact that you can’t get done by phone, “that does not needfully mean that they are not OK,” Stephens said. “We cognize that overmuch of this is simply a communications problem.”

Stephens said AT&T hasn’t yet provided the governor’s bureau with immoderate estimates of erstwhile compartment work volition beryllium restored.

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BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’ bureau says powerfulness institution crews were doing a harm appraisal of its powerfulness grid, but that it appeared the harm was “catastrophic.”

Officials were estimating Monday that it could beryllium weeks for afloat restoration successful immoderate areas.

Christina Stephens, a spokesperson for the governor, said hunt and rescue was underway crossed galore communities successful southeast Louisiana, with peculiar precocious h2o problems successful Lafitte, LaPlace, the westbound slope of Jefferson Parish and the Houma/Thibodaux areas.

The authorities had much than 1,000 radical conducting hunt and rescue operations, and galore much section hunt and rescue operations were up and moving arsenic well.

Stephens said lone 1 decease has been confirmed from Ida, but she cautioned that based connected the wide destruction: “We’re going to person galore much confirmed fatalities.”

The politician besides tweeted that Ida “packed a precise almighty punch” and “did everything that was advertised, unfortunately.”

He wrote that levies successful hard-hit areas “performed highly well” for the astir part, but that overmuch of the authorities remains without power, h2o systems were retired and “we person tremendous harm to homes and businesses.”

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NEW ORLEANS — Power institution officials accidental a elephantine operation that helps transportation cardinal overhead transmission lines implicit the Mississippi River to the New Orleans country withstood the unit of Hurricane Katrina, but was destroyed by Ida.

As of Monday morning, determination were much than 888,000 powerfulness outages successful Louisiana, with outages expected to summation arsenic the tempest moves done Mississippi.

More than 2,000 miles of transmission lines were retired of work Monday, on with 216 substations, according to the powerfulness provider, Entergy.

Entergy said crews were assessing harm to assistance the institution “get a amended thought of what we’re dealing with.”

“It would beryllium premature to speculate astatine this clip erstwhile powerfulness volition beryllium restored fixed the grade of the damage,” the institution said.

Entergy has much than 11,000 workers acceptable to reconstruct service, and expects that fig to summation to 20,000, it said. The institution is booking edifice rooms and preparing to determination mobile sleeping units to location the thousands of workers successful areas hard-hit by the storm. ___

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Energy says 96% of lipid accumulation and 94% of earthy state accumulation successful the Gulf of Mexico are unopen down owed to Ida.

Nearly 300 maned lipid platforms and drilling rigs were unopen down and evacuated. At slightest 9 lipid refineries successful the portion person besides been shuttered, representing 13% of the nation’s full refining capacity.

Several pipelines are besides unopen down arsenic a precaution.

The work disruptions are not expected to instantly interaction the availability of gasoline nationally, owed to ample substance reserves successful the system, the section said.

The ports of New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Gramercy, and Morgan City successful Louisiana and the Port of Pascagoula, Mississippi are each closed. The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port has besides suspended operations.

Authorities were besides calculating conscionable however overmuch upwind and rainfall Ida unleashed. Preliminary measurements connected Monday showed a precocious of 15.7 inches of rainfall from Ida dropped successful Slidell, Louisiana, done 9 a.m. section time.

New Orleans got astir 14 inches of rain. From 5 to 11 inches of rainfall fell successful Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

A vessel successful the larboard astatine Port Fourchon measured 172 mph winds, portion Venice, Louisiana, recorded a precocious of 128 mph winds.

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