NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana residents braced or fled Saturday as the biggest hurricane since Katrina barreled through the Gulf of Mexico toward the low-lying …
NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana residents braced or fled Saturday as the biggest hurricane since Katrina barreled through the Gulf of Mexico toward the low-lying coast, with its eye tracking closer to the city. At 4 p.m., Hurricane Ida was swirling over warm waters in the Gulf some 300 miles southeast of Houma. It stood as a Category 2 storm with winds up to 105 mph, but it will strengthen to a Category 4 before it makes landfall Sunday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. The storm’s speed has caused the landfall timetable to be advanced repeatedly in the last 24 hours. Gov. John Bel Edwards addressed the state around 2 p.m. Saturday, urging residents to evacuate quickly if they could or hunker down to ride out what could prove a hellish storm. “Your window of time is closing,” Mr. Edwards said. “It’s rapidly closing. By the time you go to bed tonight, you need to be where you intend to ride out this storm and you need to be as prepared as you can be.” Sunday also marks the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, heightening tension and a sense of foreboding among many residents. Residents outside the levee system faced a mandatory evacuation that took effect Friday, and traffic on Interstate 10, which threads northeast and northwest out of New Orleans, was snarled badly. “There’s still time so get out while you can,” Plaquemines Parish President Kirk Kepine said at a 3 p.m. local time press conference Saturday. “The ferries are going to be suspended tomorrow because of high winds and the gates are closing.
