The President is closely monitoring recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Ida. He has directed that the Federal government take prompt and specific actions to respond to the needs of Americans who are suffering from the storm’s devastating impacts. President Biden has spoken twice with the Governors of Louisiana and Mississippi and with mayors and parish leaders from areas most affected by Hurricane Ida. He made clear there will be a robust Federal response in support of state, tribal, and local officials, and that the Federal government will closely coordinate with local and private sector partners. On Tuesday, the President specifically authorized a series of actions to assist with urgent power restoration efforts in the Gulf Coast. He spoke with national and regional electricity sector leaders to make clear that the Administration will provide whatever support and resources are needed for ongoing power restoration efforts. The FEMA Administrator has already traveled to Louisiana and Mississippi to survey storm damage and discuss recovery efforts with state and local partners.

Before Hurricane Ida made landfall, the President approved Emergency Declarations for the States of Louisiana and Mississippi. These declarations authorized FEMA to provide assistance for emergency measures to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety in Louisiana and Mississippi and fund emergency protective measures. The Federal government also proactively pre-positioned resources across the region before Hurricane Ida made landfall, including search and rescue equipment, meals, water, generators, equipment, and personnel to assist states with impacts from the storm.

Several Louisiana farms were flattened by Hurricane Ida this week.

“This has been a very difficult year for farmers, with the freeze and the unprecedented rainfall, and now a Category 4 hurricane,” says BREADA executive director Darlene Adams Rowland.

BREADA, which oversees the Red Stick Farmers Market and other local programs, has been trying to get in contact with farmers across the state. It wasn’t able to reach many until Tuesday.

“Our farmers to the east and south have suffered significant damage, with some still yet to be seen,” Rowland says.

And the worst could be yet to come.

Louisiana residents still reeling from flooding and damage caused by Hurricane Ida scrambled for food, gas, water and relief from the sweltering heat as thousands of line workers toiled to restore electricity and officials vowed to set up more sites where people could get free meals and cool off.

Power and water outages affected hundreds of thousands of people, many of them with no way to get immediate relief.

Gov. John Bel Edwards received word tonight that Pres. Joseph R. Biden has approved his request for a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration due to the severe impacts of Hurricane Ida, a category 4 storm that has caused widespread damage across Louisiana. Ida made landfall early Sunday afternoon in Port Fourchon with winds of 155 miles per hour. As the slow moving storm continues to impact Louisiana, more than 800,000 people are without power statewide. Surge and damaging winds are impacting areas along the coast and moving inland.

We are getting a glimpse this morning at the damage done so far by Hurricane Ida. It has been sixteen years to the day since Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans and this storm will be a test for the new levees and pump systems.

The heavy rain and flooding are a major concern for crops and livestock. Louisiana's cotton crop is notably at risk, with nearly 40 percent of the bolls opening.

More than 1 million people across south Louisiana lost power when Hurricane Ida made landfall Sunday afternoon, and utility officials say many areas could remain without electricity for weeks.

Many homes and businesses are relying on generators, and public safety officials say it's important to remember safe and effective ways to operate a generator.

Using a generator incorrectly can result in death. In 2020 during Hurricane Laura, several people in various parishes were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning from generators.

When Hurricane Ida made landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, early Sunday afternoon, it roared in as a Category 4 hurricane with all the destructive power of Mother Nature behind it. The extremely dangerous winds, which got up to 150 mph, knocked out all the power in New Orleans and left a trail of destruction in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The winds were so strong they even managed to reverse the flow of the mighty Mississippi River.

Changing the direction of a river is a natural phenomenon that is rarely seen, deemed "extremely uncommon" by U.S. Geological Survey supervising hydrologist Scott Perrien who spoke to CNN. Perrien remembered that it happened briefly during Hurricane Katrina and now, 16 years to the day since the devastating Hurricane Katrina made landfall, it happened again during Hurricane Ida. It also reportedly happened in 2012 during Hurricane Isaac.

A Louisiana fire department is investigating a report of a man who disappeared after being attacked by an alligator in floodwaters caused by Hurricane Ida. St. Tammany Fire Protection said a woman in Slidell saw the gator attack her husband, but after she rushed inside to seek help, the man vanished. Officials said they could not locate the body to determine the cause of death, but they believe the alligator was in the area due to rising waters caused by the storm.