Hurricane Ida Winds Hit 150 Mph Ahead Of Louisiana Strike

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Hurricane Ida rapidly grew in strength early Sunday, becoming a dangerous Category 4 hurricane just hours before hitting the Louisiana coast as emergency officials in the region grappled with opening shelters for displaced evacuees amid the risk of spreading the coronavirus.

As Ida moved through some of the warmest ocean water in the world in the northern Gulf of Mexico, its top winds grew by 45 mph (72 kph) to 150 mph (230 kph) in five hours. The system was expected to make landfall early Sunday afternoon on the exact date Hurricane Katrina ravaged Louisiana and Mississippi 16 years earlier.

The National Hurricane Center said Ida was expected to maintain its strength just 6 mph shy of a Category 5 hurricane until landfall. Only four Category 5 hurricanes have made landfall in the United States: Michael in 2018, Andrew in 1992, Camille in 1969 and the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935. Both Michael and Andrew were upgraded to category 5 long after the storm hit with further review of damage.

Ida threatened a region already reeling from a resurgence of COVID-19 infections, due to low vaccination rates and the highly contagious delta variant.

New Orleans hospitals planned to ride out the storm with their beds nearly full, as similarly stressed hospitals elsewhere had little room for evacuated patients. And shelters for those fleeing their homes carried an added risk of becoming flashpoints for new infections.

Hurricane force winds started to strike Grand Isle on Sunday morning. Before power was lost on the Louisiana barrier island, a beachfront web camera showed the ocean steadily rising as growing waves churned and palm trees whipped.

Forecasters warned winds stronger than 115 mph (185 kph) were expected soon in Houma, a city of 33,000 that supports oil platforms in the Gulf.

In New Orleans, where the worst weather is expected later, a light rain fell. Cars were parked on the median, which is a few feet higher and can protect against potential flooding

Ida intensified so swiftly that New Orleans officials said there was no time to organize a mandatory evacuation of its 390,000 residents. Mayor LaToya Cantrell urged residents to leave voluntarily. Those who stayed were warned to prepare for long power outages amid sweltering heat.

Nick Mosca was walking his dog, like most of those who were out.

“I’d like to be better prepared. There’s a few things I’m thinking we could have done. But this storm came pretty quick, so you only have the time you have,” Mosca said.

Gov. John Bel Edwards vowed Saturday that Louisiana’s “resilient and tough people” would weather the storm. He also noted shelters would operate with reduced capacities “to reflect the realities of COVID.”

Edwards said Louisiana officials were working to find hotel rooms for evacuees so that fewer had to stay in mass shelters. He noted that during last year’s hurricane season, Louisiana found rooms for 20,000 people.

Coastal Gulfport, Mississippi, was battered Sunday by intense rain. A Red Cross shelter posted signs displaying directions for evacuees, along with warnings about COVID-19. Shelter manager Barbara Casterlin said workers were required to wear face masks. Evacuees were encouraged to do the same. Anyone who refuses will be sent to an isolated area, she said, as will people who are sick.

“We’re not checking vaccinations,” Casterlin said, “but we are doing temperature checks two or three times a day.”

President Joe Biden approved emergency declarations for Louisiana and Mississippi ahead of Ida’s arrival.

Comparisons to the Aug. 29, 2005, landfall of Katrina weighed heavily on residents bracing for Ida. A Category 3 storm, Katrina was blamed for 1,800 deaths as it caused levee breaches and catastrophic flooding in New Orleans and demolished oceanfront homes in Mississippi. Ida’s hurricane force winds stretched less than 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the storm’s eye, or less than half the size of Katrina.

Officials stressed that the levee and drainage systems protecting New Orleans had been much improved since Katrina. But they cautioned flooding was still possible, with up to 24 inches (61 centimeters) of rain forecast in some areas.

“Ida will most definitely be stronger than Katrina, and by a pretty big margin,” said University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy. “And, the worst of the storm will pass over New Orleans and Baton Rouge, which got the weaker side of Katrina.”

About 2 million people live in and around New Orleans and Baton Rouge, with many fewer people along the Mississippi River and wetlands to the south, which will get the brunt of the hurricane first.

Edwards said 5,000 National Guard troops were being deployed in 14 Louisiana parishes for search and rescue efforts. And 10,000 linemen were on standby to respond to electrical outages.

Hurricane Ida nearly doubled in strength, going from an 85 mph storm to a 150 mph storm in just 24 hours, which meteorologists called “explosive intensification.”

“Yikes! Ida leaves me stunned,” said Jeff Masters, a former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hurricane hunter meteorologist and founder of Weather Underground.

He warned the region could face devastation to its infrastructure, which includes petrochemical sites and major ports. The state’s 17 oil refineries account for nearly one-fifth of the U.S. refining capacity and its two liquefied natural gas export terminals ship about 55% of the nation’s total exports, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Louisiana is also home to two nuclear power plants, one near New Orleans and another about 27 miles (about 43 kilometers) northwest of Baton Rouge.

The Interstate 10 corridor between New Orleans and Baton Rouge is a critical hub of the nation’s petrochemical industry, lined with oil refineries, natural gas terminals and chemical manufacturing plants. Entergy, Louisiana’s major electricity provider, operates two nuclear power plants along the Mississippi River.

We Support A Boycott Of Mississippi Due To Governor Signing Law Allowing Service Denial To Gay People #BoycottMississippi

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi's governor signed a law on Tuesday that allows public and private businesses to refuse service to gay couples based on the employers' religious beliefs.

Gov. Phil Bryant signed House Bill 1523, despite opposition from gay-rights groups and some businesses who say it enables discrimination. Some conservative and religious groups support the bill.

The measure's stated intention is to protect those who believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman, that sexual relations should only take place inside such marriages, and that male and female genders are unchangeable.

"This bill merely reinforces the rights which currently exist to the exercise of religious freedom as stated in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution," the Republican governor wrote in a statement posted to his Twitter account.

The measure allows churches, religious charities and privately held businesses to decline services to people whose lifestyles violate their religious beliefs. Individual government employees may also opt out, although the measure says governments must still provide services.

"This bill does not limit any constitutionally protected rights or actions of any citizen of this state under federal or state laws," Bryant said. "It does not attempt to challenge federal laws, even those which are in conflict with the Mississippi Constitution, as the Legislature recognizes the prominence of federal law in such limited circumstances."

Other states have considered similar legislation. North Carolina enacted a law, while governors in Georgia and South Dakota vetoed proposals.

Bryant acted within hours of receiving the bill after it cleared its final legislative obstacle Monday, even as opponents tried to marshal pressure to persuade Bryant to reject it.

"This bill flies in the face of the basic American principles of fairness, justice and equality and will not protect anyone's religious liberty," Jennifer Riley-Collins, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi, said in a statement. "Far from protecting anyone from 'government discrimination' as the bill claims, it is an attack on the citizens of our state, and it will serve as the Magnolia State's badge of shame."

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Online: House Bill 1523: http://bit.ly/1qo4guX

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Follow Jeff Amy at: http://twitter.com/jeffamy . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/author/jeff-amy

Celebrate Elvis's 80th Birthday With These Top 10 Tribute Destinations

On January 8^th, 1935, Elvis Aaron Presley was born in Tulepo, Mississippi. This Thursday will mark 80 years since the “King of Rock and Roll” entered this world. In honor of this music history milestone, the travel experts at Cheapflights.com, the online leader in finding and publishing travel deals, have compiled a Top 10 Elvis Tribute Destinations where the man, the music and the legend all live on.

Below are six of our picks for places where Elvis is “Always on our Minds”:

·         Porthcawl, Wales - The small seaside town of Porthcawl is supposedly home to the largest Elvis impersonator convention in the world. Held every September in Wales, a country more famous for Elvis’ friend Tom Jones than the man himself, the Porthcawl Elvis Festival is so large that it even has its own fringe festival. The king may never have been there himself, but that doesn't change the fact that visiting Porthcawl will enable you to see hundreds of him at once.

·         Friedberg & Bad Nauheim, Germany - Elvis was in the United States Army for two years from 1958 to 1960 and was stationed at Ray Barracks in Friedberg. He lived off base in a hotel in nearby Bad Nauheim where the many complaints about all his partying meant he had to move out into a house down the road. Today, both towns have a multitude of sites and nods to Elvis’ military past.

·         Sun Studio, Memphis, United States - In 1953, when Elvis was 18, he went to record a single acetate disc of himself singing atSun Studios as a gift for his mother. The receptionist made the note “Good ballad singer. Hold,” but it wasn’t until nearly a year later when Elvis broke out and began a string of hits. All his important early classics, like “That’s All Right” were recorded under its roof, and the place reverberates with Elvis’ legend. Tours include a chance to sing at the very microphone he used.

·         Hawaii, United States - Elvis did more to popularize the luau than any other big kahuna out there. Not only did he make three light-hearted films in Hawaii with suitably island-drenched soundtracks, but, in 1973, Elvis was the star of “Aloha from Hawaii,” the world’s first live concert broadcast via satellite. A statue of Elvis stands outside the Honolulu stadium where the performance was held. From the beaches where he filmed to the places he stayed to his efforts to raise funds for the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, you can find his influence throughout the islands. Yet another great reason to explore Hawaii!

·         Las Vegas, Nevada, United States - Elvis famously proclaimed ‘Viva Las Vegas!’ and the city still has an enduring connection with his words. There’s a statue dedicated to Elvis outside the Westgate Las Vegas where he did two shows a night for two months a year for seven years back when it was the Las Vegas Hilton. There are lots of claims of people seeing his ghost there, so maybe even in the afterlife Elvis still thinks he’s got all those gigs to do. Elsewhere, the king married Priscilla in the Aladdin Hotel, and there’s the famous Graceland Wedding Chapel where Elvis impersonators perform the wedding rites in his holy honor. 

·         Graceland, Memphis, United States - Graceland, the huge estate that he bought for himself and his family back in 1957, is synonymous with Elvis Presley. The 13.8-acre plot currently houses a museum, working stables, a recording studio and two jets (though the planes may be removed as they’re up for auction). We also like that it has the TV he shot after watching something that annoyed him. Graceland is every fan’s top Elvis destination, especially since it’s where the big man died and is now buried – alongside his parents and grandmother. Elvis’ grave is the star attraction of Graceland’s “Meditation Garden.” For the anniversary of his death on August 16^th each year, Graceland celebrates Elvis Week, which includes a procession of thousands of fans.

Rounding out the list of locales where Elvis made his mark are these U.S. cities: Los Angeles, California; Palm Springs, California; Tupelo, Mississippi; and Nashville, Tennessee. To read the details on these and Cheapflights.com’s Top 10 Elvis Tribute Destinations, visitwww.cheapflights.com/news/top-10-elvis-tribute-destinations.

About Cheapflights.com, part of the Momondo Group
Momondo Group is an online travel media and technology company that is driven by the belief that an open world is a better world.  The group now serves travel search and inspiration to over 17.5 million visitors a month – plus 7 million travel newsletter subscribers – via its Cheapflights (www.cheapflights.com) and momondo (www.momondo.com) brands.

Skygate began the sourcing of complex air-travel data in 1992, while Cheapflights pioneered the online comparison of flight deals for users in 1996 and momondo launched meta-search in the Nordic countries in 2006.

The Group has offices in London, Copenhagen and Boston with a consumer base across more than 30 core international markets but users all over the world.