Louisiana Power outage
The US city of New Orleans has lost power, with only generators working, as Hurricane Ida batters Louisiana.
The storm brought 150mph (240km/h) winds when it made landfall and those people who did not flee have been advised to shelter in place.
One person was killed when a tree fell on their home in Ascension Parish, in the Baton Rouge area.
Ida will test New Orleans’ flood defences, strengthened after Hurricane Katrina killed 1,800 people in 2005.
President Joe Biden said Ida would be “life-threatening”, with immense devastation likely beyond the coasts.
Over one million homes in Louisiana are without power, and Mr Biden said it could take weeks to restore supplies.
The president has declared a major disaster in the state, releasing extra funds for rescue and recovery efforts.
Ida gathered strength over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico during the weekend.
It made landfall on Sunday south of New Orleans as a category four hurricane – meaning it would cause severe damage to buildings, trees and power lines. As it moves inland, Ida’s winds have dropped to 95mph (153km/h), meaning it is now a category one storm.
In some places the storm surge could be as high as 16ft (4.8m), potentially submerging parts of the low-lying coastline.
Fear in the Big Easy
By Nada Tawfik, BBC News
It’s an eerie feeling to stand in New Orleans as it’s plunged into darkness. And all around the famous French quarter debris and tree branches litter the streets.
Standing outside is painful. The rain pelts you as winds of 70mph make it difficult to stand. Residents for the most part have heeded warnings to stay indoors for the worst of the storm. When you speak to them, they’ll tell you that hurricanes have become a part of their lives. It’s the trade-off they accept for everything else the Big Easy has to offer.
Still, there’s always a fear that the next storm could be “the big one”. Kenneth McGruder has lived in the lower 9th ward for more than 30 years. He evacuated for Hurricane Katrina and, like many others, came back to find his house under water. He is an older man who speaks openly about the trauma that caused.
Ida strengthened so quickly, he felt he didn’t have enough time to leave his home. He trusts the city’s new hurricane infrastructure but again, there’s always that fear.
Ida came ashore on the 16th anniversary of Katrina, a category three storm.
Since then, billions of dollars have been spent on flood defences, known as levees. So far, the levees have held, though a flash flood warning is in place for New Orleans.
