More than one million people in the Gulf Coast were left without power on Sunday (Aug. 29) as a result of Hurricane Ida and could remain without it for weeks, CNN reports. The hurricane hit southeastern Louisiana on Sunday as a Category 4 storm, leaving over a million people in the state; 60,000 in Mississippi and 16,000 in Alabama without power. Many of the homes that lost power are Entergy customers, which confirmed in a statement that the storm caused “catastrophic damage” to the area’s transmission system.
On Tuesday (Aug. 31), the National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for southern Louisiana, posing another threat to those without power. CNN writes that over 2 million people are under the advisory and many will have to face temperatures of up to 105 degrees without air conditioning or electricity.
According to officials, power may not be restored in some areas for up to a month. On Tuesday, Gov. John Bel Edwards warned evacuated residents not to return home until power lines have been restored.
“Many of the life-supporting infrastructure elements are not present, are not operating right now,” he said. “Please don’t come home before they tell you that it’s time.”
Downgrade to a tropical depression on Monday (Aug. 30), Ida still poses a threat to eastern states. The storm brought heavy rain and flash flooding to Tennessee and is expected to move toward the mid-Atlantic and northeast. Almost 80 million people are currently under flash flood warnings stretching all the way to Massachusetts.
At least four people have died because of the storm, CNN reports. Hundreds of people have been rescued from their homes and flooded areas, but search-and-rescue teams are still being deployed. As reported by REVOLT, Ida hit land on the same day that Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana and Mississippi 16 years ago. The storm is one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to hit the U.S. mainland.