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This morning, the first death connected to Hurricane Ida was recorded after a tree fell on a southeastern Louisiana home. One person was found dead and first responders are working to ensure the safety of others nearby. Adding to the damage, more than 1.1 million homes and businesses across Louisiana and Mississippi were left without power. Moving forward, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards plans to distribute 1,600 emergency personnel to assess further damage across the state.
"As of this moment, the state has deployed more than 1,600 personnel to conduct search and rescue across Louisiana," Edwards tweeted.
Edwards and the state of Louisiana will not face this challenge alone. Within the last 24 hours, organizations in Colorado, New York, California, Texas, Ohio and several other states have offered support to Hurricane Ida victims.
“We are trained and equipped. We are just going to go down and see what we can do to help. That’s our job," Colorado Task Force 1 Leader Brian Daley told KDVR in Denver after deploying 45 members to Louisiana.
“We are a very experienced, knowledgeable team. We’re well trained. A lot of our work will probably be swift-water operations, considering the surge. That’s what they’re looking at. Obviously, there will be downed trees. We do chainsaw operations. Basically, we can do anything. We’re self-sufficient,” FDNY Battalion Chief Joe Downey explained to News 12 after deploying more than 80 members to Louisiana.
The White House has also offered assistance to those impacted by the hurricane. FEMA has deployed more than 3,000 employees and sent 3.4 million meals to those across Louisiana and Mississippi.
"We’ve got 13 Urban Search and Rescue Teams — for those of you who aren’t familiar with that, they’re — these teams make up about 70 people and experts — each of these teams — and they can do real, serious recovery work," President Joe Biden said during a press conference on Sunday.
"More than 100 ambulances and emergency medical teams have been activated. And we’re working with the Red Cross and local partners to open dozens and dozens of shelters with cots and blankets and meals to support those we need to evacuate. That will happen mostly in the northern part of the state and maybe in parts of Mississippi. And I’ve already signed an emergency declaration for both Louisiana as well as Mississippi. And I want to make sure that we’re ready to surge all the response capacity capability that we have to deal with whatever comes next."
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