- Gridlock as New Orleans residents fled on Saturday night
- Category 4 storm forecast to hit Sunday afternoon
As Hurricane Ida barrelled towards the Louisiana coast, residents braced for a storm of potentially historic proportions due to arrive on the 16th anniversary of Katrina, the brutal hurricane that claimed more than 1,800 lives on America’s Gulf coast.
National Weather Service officials announced on Saturday night that Ida continued to strengthen in the Gulf of Mexico and was set to become a category 3 hurricane overnight, before making landfall on Sunday afternoon as a potential category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 130mph (210 km/h), life-threatening storm surges and heavy rain.
