Hurricane Ida now a Category 4 storm

Published 2:21 am Sunday, August 29, 2021

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NATCHEZ — The National Hurricane Center reports Hurricane Ida is now a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds up to 130 miles per hour.

At its 2 a.m. update, officials said data from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft and NOAA Doppler weather radars indicate that Hurricane Ida has continued to “rapidly intensify this Sunday morning. Maximum sustained winds are now estimated to be 130 mph. This makes Ida a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Ida’s central pressure has fallen 6 millibars during the past hour.”

Officials said at 2 a.m. Sunday, Hurricane Ida was located about 100 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River and about 175 miles southeast of Houma, Louisiana, moving northwest at about 15 miles per hour.

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The National Weather Service office in New Orleans said at 2:15 a.m. the outer bands of the Hurricane were approaching St. Bernard Parish, bringing thunderstorms, lightning and winds of about 50 miles per hour.

Landfall is expected somewhere between Morgan City, and the mouth of the Mississippi Sunday afternoon, perhaps as early as 1 p.m. CDT.