NEW ORLEANS — Hurricane Ida is expected to make landfall in Louisiana Sunday as a Category 4 Hurricane, bringing deadly weather conditions as it crosses over Southern Louisiana.
Preparations have begun across the state as parish officials and residents scramble to get ready ahead of the storm.
11 PM — Did you get a hurricane warning on your phone from the national weather service? How the system works and what to do if you didn't get one
10:30 PM — Terrebonne Parish orders mandatory evacuation ahead of Hurricane Ida 'We are the bullseye'
10 PM — Ida enters the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to rapidly strengthen
8 PM — New Orleans streetcar service will be suspended starting Saturday. Bus service will remain in operation.
7:45 PM — Voluntary evacuation order called for low-lying areas of St. John Parish. Get the full list of evacuation orders here.
7:30 PM — Evacuating Hurricane Ida? Here's where to go
6:15 PM - Saints evacuating to Dallas. Story from Nola.com's Jeff Duncan here
5:40 PM - Mayor Cantrell - "Time is not on our side"
5:35 PM - View the National Weather Service's dire warning on Hurricane Ida.
5:25 PM - St. Charles Parish also orders an evacuation of the entire parish. See full list of evacuations.
4:45 PM - Governor's press conference - "This will be a life-altering storm for those who aren't prepared."
4:39 PM - Saints cancel preseason game on Saturday due to IDA
The New Orleans Saints announced Friday afternoon, Aug. 27 that due to the impending impact of Hurricane Ida on the Gulf Coast region that the team's preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals has been canceled. This announcement comes after constant communication with City of New Orleans officials, the National Weather Service, Homeland Security, state officials and the National Football League. The team encourages all residents of the region to take precautionary measures to remain safe throughout the impending hurricane. The New Orleans Saints will be in communication with season ticket holders regarding applicable refunds and/or credits to their accounts.
4:32 PM - List of school closures to this point - Click here
4:25 PM - Hurricane Ida is now expected to be a category-4. Here's the latest forecast:
3:30 PM - Governor John Bel Edwards press conference pushed back to 4:30 p.m. - Watch it here when it happens
3:25 PM - Lafourche Parish orders mandatory evacuation for the entire parish starting at 5 a.m. Saturday - See full list of evacuations
2:30 PM
All St. Tammany Parish Schools and offices will be closed Monday, Aug. 30 due to expected severe weather conditions.
1:55 PM
Some gas stations along S. Carrollton have run out of gas as people rush to gas stations in preparation for Ida. One manager said they're waiting for fuel to arrive.
1:10 PM
St. Charles Parish officials are recommending all residents of the parish evacuate ahead of Hurricane Ida. The recommendation is not a mandate.
Residents planning on evacuating are encouraged to do so before 5 p.m. Saturday to avoid the worst of the traffic and storm effects.
Mandatory evacuations are being ordered for any areas of the parish outside the levee protection area.
Those who stay should expect to be without power for at least a week, and to prepare batteries, food and whatever else they may need.
12:40 PM
NOLA-PS is the latest public school system to announce that all classes would be canceled Monday. Most of the Southeast Louisiana parish school districts have announced they will close for the day because of Hurricane Ida, which is expected to hit late Sunday night into early Monday morning.
12:35 PM
St. Bernard Parish officials said they are preparing for widespread power outages and street flooding associated with Hurricane Ida, which is expected to hit Louisiana's coast Sunday.
Schools in the parish will be closed Monday, and school district officials will decide on Tuesday classes once the effects of Ida are known.
12:15 PM
Ida is now a hurricane as it approaches the Gulf of Mexico. The storm has sustained winds of 75 MPH, and is expected to undergo rapid intensification over the weekend ahead of a Sunday night landfall along the Louisiana coast.
12:10 PM
Ghassan Korban of the S&WB says one diesel generator is down, as is pump station 12 in Lakeview, but said he was confident in the city's drainage system ahead of Ida.
Noon
Dr. Jennifer Avegno, the city of New Orleans' health director, encouraged anybody congregating during the storm to mask up and maintain as much social distance as possible.
She said residents who were not vaccinated still had time to do so before the storm forces vaccination sites to shut down later in the weekend.
11:45 AM
New Orleans is calling for mandatory evacuation for areas outside of the levee system, and Mayor LaToya Cantrell is encouraging anybody who is thinking of evacuating to do so as soon as possible.
Ide could bring storm surge up to 11 feet outside the levee system.
City officials said the Saints game at noon on Sunday will put added stress on the NOPD units needed throughout the city, but that the force is up to the task.
10 AM
Tropical Storm Ida continues to intensify in the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center. It is now expected to be a strong Category 3 hurricane with winds up to 120 MPH when it makes landfall around the Terrebonne/Lafourche Parish area.
The new track has Ida becoming a hurricane later Thursday, with the center line moving about 10 miles west — not a large change given the wide impact the storm is expected to have.
9:40 AM
The Saints will kick off early Sunday against the Cardinals because of Tropical Storm Ida.
The game, originally scheduled for Sunday night, will now take place at noon in the Superdome. It's unclear what weather conditions will be like in New Orleans when kickoff happens, but Ida is expected to make landfall sometime Sunday evening as a Category 3 hurricane.
7 AM
Tropical Storm Ida is continuing to organize and intensify as it approaches the southern Gulf. It is now expected to be a Category 3 hurricane at landfall on Louisiana's southern coast sometime Sunday night.
While the exact path of the storm is still undetermined, heavy impacts are expected across Southeast Louisiana starting Saturday as conditions begin to deteriorate.
No parishes have called for mandatory evacuations yet, but Grand Isle in Jefferson Parish has issued a voluntary evacuation order ahead of the storm. Other evacuation orders are likely before Sunday.
Gov. John Bel Edwards is expected to speak about the state's preparations for the storm at 3:30 p.m. Friday from Baton Rouge. His address comes on the heels of a Thursday press conference painting a grim picture of the recovery situation in the Lake Charles area, which was slammed by Hurricane Laura last year.
St. Tammany Parish officials are also expected to address the storm at 3:30 p.m., but will likely change the time for that press conference to avoid conflicts with the governor's event.
