By Sarah Beth Neese

On the morning of August 29, Hurricane Ida struck the shore of Port Fourchon, Louisiana, as a category four hurricane. On the 16th year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina making landfall in southern Louisiana, Hurricane Ida tore through Louisiana, and among the worst cities and parishes hit were Terrebonne, New Orleans, Jefferson, and St. John. It was reported that winds reached a peak gust of 172 mph and were averaging gusts of 150 mph. Ida was reported to be the fifth-strongest hurricane to have ever hit the U.S., making the storm ranked worse than Katrina in terms of the hurricane’s power. In total, there have been 82 reported hurricane-related deaths.

Civilians travel through the flooded streets of New Orleans. Photo credit: Emily Kask for The New York Times.

Not only did Ida cause tremendous damage in Louisiana, but the powerful hurricane managed to wreak havoc in the Northeast as well. The most significant damage was caused as Ida made its retreat upstate, provoking extensive flooding in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. The flooding that occurred in these states was declared as one of the worst urban flood disasters in U.S. history in the Northeast. CNBC reports that the overall storm damage totals about $95 billion. BBC News mentioned President Joseph Biden’s plan to release extra funds for rescue and recovery efforts. On August 31, Biden stated, “that the federal government would stand with the people of the Gulf Coast for as long as it takes for you to recover.” 

The New York Times and several other news outlets determined how the aftermath of the storm affected people the most in Louisiana. BBC News reported that over 5,000 National Guard members assisted with the search and rescue efforts held only shortly after the storm had hit. Statewide power outages drastically covered Louisiana; it was reported that over one million utility customers remained without power initially after the storm. The hardest-hit areas were advised that the loss of electricity could last weeks, as crews worked to restore power lines belonging to Entergy, the largest utility in the state. 

The negative effects of the storm immensely increased in the days after. The strong force that Ida had brought to Louisiana resulted in store closings, gas shortages, deaths, and an increase in looting. Due to these impacts, Governor John Bel Edwards urged people that had already evacuated to remain evacuated until the state’s infrastructure was restored. In addition to this, Edwards also issued a citywide curfew in New Orleans. Due to the city’s lack of working street lights or any other outdoor lighting, Edwards determined that it was unsafe for people to be out after dark, especially with the increase in the looting that was brought into place by people who took advantage of the vulnerability of the city. 

A news crew reports on the edge of Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans during the initial impacts of Ida. Photo credit: Star-Advertiser.

Several days after Ida, Louisiana’s conditions continued to worsen. VOA News reported that with the increase in heat and sun, a majority of citizens were struggling to survive without access to a  consistent source of air conditioning, water, food, and gasoline. In addition to this, COVID-19 also has caused its own impact prompted by the storm. With already fewer beds due to patients being treated for COVID-19, and hospitals unable to be evacuated, people that were in need of medical help were unable to seek the help they need. Edwards stated that “We don’t have any place to bring those patients. Not in-state, not out of state.” 

Among the areas significantly impacted by Ida was New Orleans, the home of Tulane University, which was also severely impacted by the hurricane. Due to the initial threat of the storm before Ida made landfall, several students were shocked by the announcement about how Ida was on track to severely hit New Orleans. However, many of them did not anticipate the broader impact that had to follow.

Collegiate and Match alumna Ellie Rogers (‘21), a freshman at Tulane, commented on her initial reaction when she found out the news: “I wasn’t that emotional about it, because I thought that we would be back sooner. However, it was a weird moment, because you could tell people were packing up and frantically leaving.” Rogers and her roommate Carly Harris, a Tulane freshmen from Nashville, were among the few that flew out of New Orleans before Ida struck. Both Rogers and Harrison were able to make it back to their hometowns shortly after evacuating.

Although many were able to evacuate before the storm made landfall, a majority of students had to stay and wait out the storm in secure places on campus. Three days after Ida hit, more than 2,500 students who had been sheltering in place during the hurricane were evacuated to Houston by bus, where they would board flights home or to safer locations. 

Electrical damage caused by Hurricane Ida. Photo credit: Eric Gay at ABC News.

Rogers and other students, however, spoke differently about their evacuation experience. Rogers revealed, “They never officially evacuated the campus before the hurricane, which I think was a big deal for a bunch of parents, because a bunch of students was stuck on campus during the storm, which meant that many students had to spend three or four days inside.” For students that had to remain on campus during the hurricane, Tulane provided them with a rations bag that included bread, chips, fruit, ravioli, and candy bars. Baltimore news site WBAL interviewed parents of a freshman at Tulane, Hugh Rheingold, who shared his son’s experience: “He was scared for sure. They were looking out their window. The windows are hurricane-proof. And so there was a window in his dorm that did shatter. There was some slight flooding in the dorm.” 

What lies ahead for Tulane and its students is primarily uncertain. However, Patrick J. Norton, Tulane’s Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, stated on the university’s website, “We are confident that we will be able to effectively continue teaching, learning, and working remotely while our emergency personnel works to address damages on campus, and across the city and region.” Despite the uncertainty of New Orleans infrastructural recovery, Tulane’s president Michael Fitts announced that the university’s classes were canceled through September 12, and were resumed online September 13, as well as students being allowed back on campus September 24. 

Not only did Ida have a negative impact on the structural aspect of Tulane, but it also had a difficult impact on the lives of students. Rogers and Harrison both agreed, “It was a pretty stressful time.” Students were only able to pack a handful of their belongings in their dorms before evacuating, meaning that a majority of their clothes and everyday necessities were to be unattainable for almost another month. Rogers said, “Everyone’s lives are still in their dorms. I had to buy a whole new wardrobe basically to be prepared to live for a month without everything in my dorm.”

Featured image credit: Eric Gay/AP Photo.