Baghdad US President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in Mississippi and ordered federal assistance to supplement state and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Hurricane Ida.
“The President’s Action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate all disaster relief efforts aimed at alleviating the hardship and suffering that the emergency causes on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance to those wanted,” the White House statement said.
Hurricane Ida intensified on Saturday, according to “Sputnik”, over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, forcing tens of thousands to flee coastal areas.
Ida moved toward the US Gulf Coast on Saturday, and flood-prone New Orleans neighborhoods carried out evacuations, as well as oil drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
Meteorologists said that Ida could make landfall in the United States, today, Sunday, as an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm.
The National Hurricane Center said that “Ida” hit Cuba on Friday, and by early Saturday, it was carrying strong winds of about 80 miles per hour (129 kilometers per hour) as it was heading to the northwest. You get to the beach late tomorrow, Sunday.”
“Water heights driven by hurricane winds can be up to 10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.5 meters) high around the mouth of the Mississippi River, with low levels extending eastward along the adjacent coasts of Mississippi and Alabama,” he added.
Sporadic cyclones, widespread power outages and internal flooding from torrential rain are also expected across the region.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency