By: Brandon Clark | Contributor
Image Source: Montgomery Advertiser
It has been a few weeks since Hurricane Ida made landfall as a category 4 storm. This comes just weeks after Hurricane Fred touched down near Florida, causing severe rainfall and significant flooding across affected areas. In hindsight, Fred was only a show for things to come.
Bombarding Louisiana with winds up to 150 mph, Ida tore through the state with catastrophic results. The excess rain caused water levels to rise to a staggering 12 feet, submerging roadways and vehicles. Stranded, families were left to sit and wait in their homes even as some took on water inside.
In major contrast to the punishment that southern Louisiana received, Mobile fared slightly better. With mild flooding and less powerful winds as Hurricane Ida moved closer inland, WVTM13 reported that the strength of Ida had been downgraded to that of a tropical storm.
Despite this, the problems posed by Ida were still prevalent when it reached the northeastern part of the United States. In a phone call with a family relative, I was informed of the impacts the hurricane had created in New Jersey and the surrounding areas.
My uncle, Greg Huggins, explained that up north, they expected to be hit, but nobody expected it to be as bad as it was. Additionally, Huggins said that although Jersey city did get flooded, the people of Newark fared the worst. To convey just how bad the situation was he told me that if the water wasn’t coming through the basement or the first floor, it was coming through the toilets. To make matters worse, his god sister lost everything during the storm and the people of Newark collectively lost power for 2-3 days. Huggins hopes these events will be a wake up call for the city because, although there are precautions in place, they only apply after disaster strikes.
Ida has long since vanished but that doesn’t mean there won’t be long-lasting effects. The power grid of Louisiana was struck hard by Ida causing outages throughout the state, some of which are ongoing. Reported by CNN, Entergy assessed that “areas might not have electricity until September 29.”
As the victims of hurricane Ida navigate through the aftermath, you can help be a part of the relief effort by donating on campus to the Hurricane Ida box in the Student Center, spreading the word or even donating to larger organizations such as the Red Cross.
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