In Pointe-Aux-Chênes, a bayou community in southern Louisiana, home to the Pointe-au-Chien tribe, an estimated 80% of homes are uninhabitable following Hurricane Ida. WGNO was on the corner of Loyola Drive and I-10 where a tree was blocking the road. As climate change threatens to produce increasingly violent storms, and sea-level rise threatens to submerge the island entirely, many are wondering if they have any future at all on their beloved island. NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) On Monday morning, WGNO went outside to report on the aftermath of Hurricane Ida.
Stay out of any building if you smell gas. Now, as the community contemplates rebuilding (an effort that will take years), it must confront the bitter possibility that Hurricane Ida was just the beginning. Walk carefully around the outside of your home to check for loose power lines, gas leaks, and structural damage. AccuWeather estimates damages and economic loss to reach between 70 to 80 million dollars, but that is just the beginning. Damage of Hurricane Ida- After Ida made landfall, the aftermath was devastating. Drinking water was potentially contaminated. CDT, Hurricane Ida hit Southern Louisiana with two category levels higher than the previous day. The terrifying stories of that night paint a picture of resilient, hurricane-hardened folks nonetheless caught off guard by the awesome force of nature. In the aftermath of the Hurricane of 1938, more aspects of the disaster became clear. The levee failed spectacularly, flooding the island with seawater.
Wind, gusting at over 170 mph, blew entire houses to pieces. When Hurricane Ida began lashing Grand Isle on August 29, the 100 residents who decided to stay on the island knew immediately that it was the worst hurricane in living memory. While similar nearby communities like Cheniere Caminada and Isle Derniere suffered fatal blows (Isle Derniere now exists only as a shoal, completely consumed by the sea) Grand Isle has always rebuilt-a spirit of perseverance that forms the very core of the island’s identity. For centuries it endured a harrowing cycle of destruction and reconstruction, as storm after storm razed the town to the ground. Hurricane season for 2019 is officially over and North Carolina - for the most part - was spared from widespread damage this time. Grand Isle, Louisiana, has always existed at the mercy of weather from the Gulf.