Hurricane Ida could be one of the worst storms to hit Louisiana in 170 years and is expected to make landfall in the next few hours.
The “extremely life-threatening” surge is set to trigger devastating flash flooding in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana when it arrives later on Sunday – the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
Ida has been graded as category four – capable of causing “catastrophic” damage and leaving the area uninhabitable for months.
Ida quickly gained strength as it moved into the northern Gulf, going from top winds of 115mph in a 1am update to 145mph a few hours later.
John Bel Edwards, governor of Louisiana, said: “This will be one of the strongest hurricanes to hit anywhere in Louisiana since at least the 1850s.”
This will be one of the strongest storms to hit Louisiana since at least the 1850s. Preparations need to be complete and you need to be where you intend to ride out the storm by tonight. Conditions will begin deteriorating early tomorrow morning. Stay vigilant. #lagov#lawx#Idapic.twitter.com/7wkArbd9uo
New Orleans in Louisiana will bear the brunt of the storm, after already being ravaged by Hurricane Katrina which made landfall on 29 August 2005.
Katrina, which killed more than 1,800 people, was graded category three when it arrived.
Thousands of residents and visitors are desperately trying to flee New Orleans before the storm makes landfall, with traffic gridlocked on the Interstate 10 route out of the city.
Hundreds in the area have been pictured boarding up windows and gathering sandbags as the storm edges closer.
It comes amid warnings about another severe weather system, Hurricane Nora, which is travelling northward up Mexico’s Pacific Coast towards the narrow Gulf of California.
“There is a danger of a life-threatening storm surge inundation Sunday along the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama within the storm surge warning area,” the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said in a key advisory message issued around 10pm local time on Saturday.
“Extremely life-threatening inundation of 9 feet or greater above ground level is possible somewhere within the area from Morgan City, Louisiana, to the coast of Mississippi.”
And the NHC warned local levees – built to stop rivers overflowing – could succumb to Ida’s rapidly-increasing intensity.
Officials warned the storm will be “life-altering” for those who have not taken precautions – as President Joe Biden urged people to “be prepared”.
President Biden met with the NHC and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to discuss the course of action on Saturday.
More than a dozen search and rescue teams have been assigned to help people unable to leave.
Meanwhile more than 100 ambulances and 20 air ambulances have been deployed to support evacuations of nursing homes in the path of the storm.
The Coast Guard has also positioned vehicles for deep water search and rescue missions, while efforts are being made to source hundreds of generators amid fears about widespread power outages which could last months.
Today I was briefed on our preparations for Hurricane Ida by @FEMA. We have deployed emergency response personnel and pre-positioned food, water, generators, and supplies to make sure we’re ready to respond. If you are in Ida’s path, please pay attention and be prepared. pic.twitter.com/FgIQOrfUuY
Donald Trump ally Matt Gaetz has withdrawn his name from consideration to be the next US attorney general.
Mr Gaetz, a controversial pick to be the country’s top legal official, said his selection was “unfairly becoming a distraction” to the transition of Mr Trump’s administration into the White House.
The Florida Republican had faced significant scrutiny over a federal investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving a 17-year-old girl.
He said in a post on the X social media platform: “There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as attorney general. Trump’s DOJ (Department of Justice) must be in place and ready on Day 1.
“I remain fully committed to seeing that Donald Trump is the most successful president in history. I will forever be honoured that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I’m certain he will Save America.”
Mr Trump said in a post on his own social media site, Truth Social, that Mr Gaetz had a “wonderful future”.
“I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General,” he wrote.
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“He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the administration, for which he has much respect.”
Mr Gaetz previously faced a nearly three-year Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving a 17-year-old girl, which ended in February 2023 without him facing any criminal charges.
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He has always denied the allegations.
He has also been under scrutiny by the House Ethics Committee over wider allegations including sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and accepting improper gifts.
The inquiry was dropped on Wednesday 13 November when Mr Gaetz left Congress – the only forum where the committee has jurisdiction.
The Senate ethics committee is deadlocked on whether their report can be released.
Mr Gaetz’s withdrawal is a blow to Mr Trump’s push to install steadfast loyalists in his incoming administration and the first sign that he could face resistance from members of his own party.
A 43-year-old man was shot dead by police after calling 911 to report intruders had entered his home in Las Vegas.
Brandon Durham was at home with his 15-year-old daughter when he called the emergency line to report armed intruders were trying to break into his property on 12 November.
Bodycam footage shows Mr Durham struggling with a person over a knife in the moments before he was shot and killed at the scene.
“The loss of life in any type of incident like this is always tragic, and it’s something we take very seriously,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said on Thursday.
The force is investigating the incident.
Mr Durham called 911 to report multiple people were outside shooting at his residence in Las Vegas’ Sunset Park neighbourhood, where he had been staying with his 15-year-old daughter, Sky News’ US partner network NBC reports.
It was one of multiple emergency calls reporting a shooting in the area.
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Mr Durham then said someone had managed to get into his home through the front and back doors of the property and he was locking himself in the bathroom, according to a police statement from 14 November, two days after the incident.
Officers reported to the scene at approximately 12:40am and could hear screaming from inside the residence.
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One of the officers, Alexander Bookman, kicked open the front door and once inside, saw Mr Durham and another individual, later identified as 31-year-old Alejandra Boudreaux, struggling over a knife in a doorway.
Mr Bookman ordered them to drop the knife and about two seconds later, the officer fired the gun and Mr Durham appeared to be struck, the bodycam footage shows.
Both Mr Durham and Mr Boudreaux fell to the ground and the officer fired another five shots. Roughly three seconds are believed to have gone by between the first and last shot, NBC reports.
Attempts were made to save the 43-year-old but he died at the scene.
Ms Boudreaux was taken into custody and is facing charges of home invasion with a deadly weapon; assault with a deadly weapon domestic violence; willful or wanton disregard of safety of persons resulting in death; and child abuse, neglect or endangerment.
A homeless man has been arrested and charged over a plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange.
The 30-year-old man from Florida, Harun Abdul-Malik Yener, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with attempting to use an explosive device to damage or destroy a building used in interstate commerce, having unveiled some of his plans to undercover agents, according to the FBI.
They began investigating Yener in February based on a tip that he was holding “bomb-making schematics” in a storage unit.
Bomb-making sketches, many watches with timers, electronic circuit boards and other electronics that could be used for building explosive devices were found, the FBI said.
It also said he told undercover FBI agents that he wanted to detonate the bomb the week before Thanksgiving and that the stock exchange in lower Manhattan would be a popular site to target, and that doing so “will wake people up”.
An agent also allegedly recorded him saying: “I feel like Bin Laden.”
He described how he hoped the bomb would “reboot” the US government, explaining that it would be “like a small nuke went off,” killing everyone inside the building, according to court documents.
The documents also claim he had rewired two-way radios so that they could work as remote triggers for an explosive device and planned to wear a disguise when planting the explosives.
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Yener, who had also searched online for things related to bomb-making since 2017, was sacked from his job at a restaurant in Florida last year after his former supervisor said he threatened to “go Parkland shooter in this place”, the FBI added.
He had his first court appearance Wednesday afternoon and will be detained while he awaits a trial.