U.S. southern states recovering from Ida face new flooding threat

New Orleans, September 7 (RHC)-- Parts of the southern United States still grappling with widespread power outages and water-logged homes in the aftermath of deadly Hurricane Ida are facing the threat of more flash floods from slow-moving rain and drenching thunderstorms.

Storms capable of producing five to eight centimetres (two to three inches) of rain “in a pretty short period of time” were saturating New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana and Mississippi on Monday, and were expected to continue into the evening, National Weather Service meteorologist Lara Pagano said.

“Some of that [rain] will occur over soil that is saturated by Ida, areas that are already sensitive, with any additional heavy rain problematic and leading to flash flooding,” Pagano told the Reuters news agency.

The states are struggling to recover more than a week after Ida, one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to strike the US Gulf Coast, tore a devastating path of destruction across the region and damaged the New Orleans power grid.

The storm killed at least 13 in Louisiana, and more than 500,000 customers in the state remained without power on Monday, according to the PowerOutage.us website, which tracks power outages.

The U.S. Coast Guard on Monday said it was probing nearly 350 reports of oil spills in and along the Gulf Coast in Ida’s wake.

President Joe Biden has approved disaster declarations for Louisiana, which he visited on Friday, as well as for New York and New Jersey, where he will travel on Tuesday.  The declarations allow the states to access federal assistance for repairs and rebuilding after the intense flooding.

“Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster,” the White House said in a statement.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said Ida caused more than $50m in damage in that state after the storm’s record-breaking rainfall of 7.8cm (3.1 inches) per hour on Wednesday.

Hochul said she had directed that $378 million in previously awarded hazard mitigation funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) be devoted to supporting New York’s infrastructure against extreme weather.