Hurricane Ida ‘will be one of worst storms to hit Louisiana in 170 years’ and is set to arrive within hours
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.
A satellite image of Hurricane Ida which is expected to hit Louisiana on Sunday Pic: NOAA via AP
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.”
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.
Ida (right) is due to hit as Nora (lower left) travels northward up Mexico’s Pacific Coast (Pic NOAA via AP)
“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”.
Traffic has ground to a halt on the Interstate 10 out of New Orleans as people flee. Pic: AP
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.
Tweeting from the @POTUS account, President Biden said: “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.”
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Will Trump address parliament on UK state visit?
This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
Read more from Sky News:
Kate’s ’emotional’ words for tearful tennis star
Music festival cancelled as headliner pulls out
Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
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