And the worst could be yet to come. Rolling tornado warnings. Highways under Water And Storm surges that could reach more than ten feet. All of this danger 16 years to the day after Hurricane Catrin arrived on louisianas shores. Cnn is on the scene across the gulf coast. Lets start with Brian Todd in New Orleans, a city all too familiar with hurricane devastation. We can see the winds are picking up. A short time ago, Emergency Services were suspended there. What can you tell us . Jim, the intensity has really picked up in the last hour since i last spoke to you. You can see some debris flying down The Street here in the french quarter. Debris everywhere as the winds have really intensified. Take a look down The Street. See some of this debris. Im going to pivot this way and our Photo Journalist is going to take you through this. Look at this collapsed roof. It came down across this intersection. Insulation and all of this stuff, it was a very violent crash just before we got on the scene here. We have to keep our eyes and ears constantly open because i can show you one other thing as we turn the corner here. See how the Wind And Rain dynamic really change. A piece of flying glass just came down here, struck a member of our security team. Hes okay but one of the things you have to watch out for because theres flying debris. Youll see my eyes dart back and forth because i have to constantly watch out for me and my team to make sure we do not get hit with something. As i come across The Street you can see how the dynamic changes. A little calmer down that street where i just was. On Decatur Street, you can see the Wind And Rain dynamic get much stronger. Look at the Rain Bands coming down Decatur Street here. Flooding will be an issue here. They could get 15 to 20 inches of rain before this is all over with. New orleans averages 62 inches of rain a year. Already 65 inches. So this is going to really add to some of the record totals. We also just found out a short time ago, jim, two Sewage Pumping stations east and west banks of New Orleans have been affected by Power Outages. So that could lead to some Sewage Backups. Thats another Problem Theyll have to be dealing with in the coming hours. But they are going to address those Sewage Backups with a generator at the pumping stations. Im going to swing down here. You can see again just the violent nature of this Wind And Rain as this has really picked up in the last hour or so. Its going to get worse in the next few hours. Both the governor and the mayor have said people, do not go out in this stuff. If you Call 911 right now, we dont think well be able to get to you for the next several hours. You have to hunker down right now. Of course, people trying to evacuate. But the mayor did say before this, they couldnt order a mandatory evacuation because there wasnt time to get everyone out. The storm intensified so quickly. And they didnt want people to get stuck on the highways in conditions like this, jim. So this is where you see the dynamic really changing with this storm. Were getting clobbered here. We have to keep our sorry. Got to keep our eyes out for flying debris. Its getting a little dangerous. Absolutely, brian. Be careful. Great reporting as always. You can see those winds really picking up in New Orleans. Just a nasty scene in the big easy right now. Brian todd, thanks. Now to houma, louisiana, not too far from where Hurricane Ida made landfall. Jason carroll is there. Things have really gone downhill since the last time we spoke with you. How are things on your end . Well, i tell you, jim, as you said it, the conditions here have deteriorated to a point where its really become severe. The Eye Wall now just about upon us. Still not here yet. But you can see these bands of Wind And Rain that had steadily been coming through here In Houma. Makes it very difficult at this point to stand up, but, you know, i checked in with the sheriff to try to get an indication of how the rest of this city is faring. You can take a look at the severe Wind Bands blowing through here. The sheriff has already reported downed Power Lines, downed trees, some damage to homes out here In Houma. When i asked him to specify the type of damage hes seen so far he could just say some damage to homes. I asked also at this point if hes received any Emergency Calls from people here calling in saying they need Help Or Need assistance. And, jim, thankfully, so far, despite all that youre seeing out here, and as severe and dramatic as it looks, he says so far at least so far at this point, he has not received any Emergency Calls from people In Houma in need of assistance. Again, Eye Wall is just about upon us. That is going to be even more severe than what were seeing now. Then theres going to be a moment of calm or so. And then well get the Back End of it as well. And so there might be some folks out here might think as the Eye Wall comes over us and theres a moment of calm hard to imagine in all of this. Theres a moment of call, you think you can come out but thats what Emergency Officials say you should not be doing. They want people to stay and shelter in place. Not come out and to stay in place. Already just from being out here, again, Power Lines. Our power is out here at this location. Throughout the city of houma. The best thing to do at this point is to shelter in place. I can tell you, ive been through some category 5 hurricanes. Hurricane rita and hurricane wilma. And even though this is not a category 5, its a category 4, as we all well know, when youre standing out here, it pretty much all feels the same. So everyone here in Houma Hunkering Down and preparing as the Eye Wall now is just about upon us. Jim . Hunkering down In Houma is right. Jason, you to that as well. Well get back to you. You can really see the winds picking up. Ive been in one of those eyes before. And it can be eerie. It can be very calm but make no mistake. Theres no nastiness to come. Jason carroll, thank you. Lets go to the Cnn Weather Center where Jennifer Gray is tracking this storm. One of the things that is just really apparent as we look at how things have gone downhill and Brian Todds live shot, Jason Carrolls live shot is, you know, when ida was Making Landfall, it was sort of hitting some of those parts of louisiana where maybe we didnt have cameras because it wasnt a densely populated area. Now its Hitting Areas like houma, those tough bands of the storm are hitting New Orleans. Now our reporters are really seeing the devastating effects of this storm. Were seeing it firsthand. And the conditions are going to deteriorate rapidly over the next Half Hour or so for our crews. Especially for jason. He should probably get to his safe place now. That inner Eye Wall approaches him. Approaches houma and you talk about being in the eye, the calmness. The Back Side of that Eye Wall is going to hit you without any warning. Its very different than the front half of the storm coming where the winds gradually increase, rain increases. When you hit that Back Side of the Eye Wall and youre outside trying to take pictures of the eye, youll have no warning. Its incredibly dangerous. Take note of that. The winds are going to be fierce over the next several hours for places like houma, New Orleans. Youre on the East Side of the storm. The eye will pass just to your west. So were going to get sustained winds, 100, 115 miles per hour in this area shaded in pink. This is an extreme wind warning. And so this is almost like an ef2 tornado, for example. Just making a slow roll across this region. You need to prepare for this just as you would a tornado warning. Get to a place away from windows. This hurricane could easily pick up objects, trees, debris, anything and it will turn into a projectile. Could come through your window. Get away from windows, into the bottom floor of your home and stay there for the next several hours as this storm continues to make a slow crawl up through louisiana. Whats interesting, too, is the eye actually looks better organized now than when it came right onshore. You have to remember a lot of South Louisiana, a lot of marsh Land Right here. Very warm water. As it was coming onshore, so the eye actually got even better organized just after landfall. Winds are around 100 miles per hour most likely. At least the gusts are around houma. Theyre going to continue to get worse within the next 30 minutes or so. Weve already had wind reports of 148 miles per hour in grand isle. Port fourchon. This 148 has an asterisk because the gauge broke at that point. Most likely we had winds even higher. Look at this. New orleans Lake Front already experiencing Hurricaneforce Wind gusts. And youll continue to experience those for the next several hours. Its not going to get better until that storm not only reaches next to you, when its just west of you but its going to have to pass northwest of you before you finally see those Hurricane Wind gusts subside. So youll be in the brunt of it. You are right now and youll continue to be so for the next several hours. We could see 110mileperhour winds or more in this area shaded in pink. And then as the Storm Moves to the north, were going to hang onto those Hurricane Force winds over the next several, several hours into tonight overnight and then into tomorrow morning. A lot of areas will still get those hurricane gusts. This storm is weakening very, very slowly, jim. Over the last couple of hours, the winds have only come down about 10 miles per hour. Its still a very dangerous category 4 storm. And just to reiterate, everyone in the South Louisiana area near houma, all the Golden Meadow and into New Orleans already getting the hurricane gusts. Now is the time to get to your safe place, jim. Two quick questions for you. One is i also extremely impressed with how well defined that Eye Wall is when you look at that radar. Does that have any effect on just the sheer impact of this storm and how devastating it might be . That is impressive when a storm comes ashore like that, a hurricane comes ashore like that and the eye is still that well defined. Its probably happened before but that is standing out to me. And one of the other things i wanted to ask you about is this anecdote that the Mississippi River, the flow of the Mississippi River was reversed by this storm. I cant imagine this is the first time that has ever happened. But how remarkable is that to you . It is incredibly remarkable. We know the volume of water that flows down stream in the Mississippi River. About a fourhour time span where the wind and the surge was so powerful that it actually caused the Mississippi River to flow upstream. Its now flowing in the proper direction so the Mississippi River is now flowing downstream again but it just shows you the power of water, the power of the surge that can actually reverse the Mississippi River. Its remarkable. And to your first question about the structure of the Eye Wall. You dont see that every day. Normally you see a storm come onshore and quickly after youll see the eye become a little more ragged. The fact this became more organized just shows you the strength of this storm. The more symmetrical the eye is, the more powerful the storm is. The more organized the storm is, so its a sure bet that we definitely have winds of 150 miles per hour right around that Eye Wall. Its remarkable. I think a lot of it has to do with the amount of Marsh And Water that is in South Louisiana. So it was able to hold onto its intensity. And its able to hold on now even after landfall. So its incredibly unfortunate all these towns in South Louisiana, very special places that are experiencing winds like this for this long of a duration. So we are going to see catastrophic damage across many of these towns in South Louisiana, jim. And as that storm heads inland as well. Jennifer gray, thanks so much. Hurricane ida now ties laura as he strongest storm to ever make landfall in louisiana. Joining us on the phone is louisianas Lieutenant Governor billy nungasser. Lieutenant governor, we have spoken before. Its been some time. You have so much experience dealing with these storms over the years. You have been a public servant in your state for a long time. You are in Baton Rouge now. I suppose its not that bad yet, but i from what my colleague Jennifer Gray was talking about, it sounds like this may still be a very well defined and dangerous storm when it gets to where you are. Absolutely. You know, we usually dont see a Hurricane Get that far inland as a category 1 or 2. This will surely bring that to Baton Rouge where a lot of structures that have never been through this before. So along the coast its expected. So it will do a lot of damage as it travels through louisiana. And its just being on the anniversary of katrina makes it a little more unsettling knowing what people are going through. I just spoke to Dean Blanchett who his Seafood Dock is completely gone and half of his house disappeared from grand isle. And hes been through so many of these. And to talk to these people that are just its sad. Its going to be a long recovery. And when you know folks like Dean Blanchard who has been through so many of these storms, when hes feeling the effects to the extent you just mentioned, that tells you how severe all this is. The number one priority is getting through the storm. But is louisiana prepared, do you think, for the days and months ahead to deal with this kind of catastrophic damage . Is this taking you by surprise as to how severe this is coming ashore . Yes, you know, we kind of hope its not going to be as bad as projected. And this one seems to be every bit of that. Yes, we unfortunately have been through preparing so many times that we werent having to be activated. The governors team, cajun navy, wildlife fisheries, all of those people are ready to deploy to rescue those left behind. Hopefully well be able to rescue them and not find them perished because they stayed behind for something they shouldnt have. And that is just going to be a desperate situation when rescue crews, first responders head into those communities and parishes. But i want to ask you, Lieutenant Governor. We know because of covid19 and the Delta Variant that the hospitals were already in pretty dire situation. They were in Dire Straits before Hurricane Ida made landfall and started to wreak havoc across your state. What about the hospitals . Are they prepared . What kind of conversations are you having with those hospital officials about how they are doing . Well, you know, i know the governor has reached out to the president and knowing that we may need additional resources deployed here in louisiana to handle those people that may be injured. That need to get medical attention because youre right. The hospitals were filled up before this hurricane. And its going to be a stretch to handle any influx of damage of people that may need critical Care Right after this storm. It was a tough thing to see many of these hospitals that under normal circumstances may have been shut down and evacuated get through this storm without a lot of problems. But we know those medical professionals, they brought some clothes and stayed at those hospitals to care for those critically ill people. And weve got some real champions here in louisiana, as everyone does. Absolutely. They are all heroes. I dont have to tell you how devastating katrina was. Youre well versed in that area. That hits as a category 3. It weakened to a category 3. Ida, a category 4 and just it looks like a vicious storm as its coming ashore. What is your biggest concern right now . What is standing out to you as you are seeing this come in . Well, im talking to people that know of people that stayed behind. And that worries me. I rode out katrina 14 miles. Never again will i do it. We rescued 34 people by air boat. Floating Mobile Homes off rooftops. And that storm, it seems like this storm will be a lot worse. I hope theres rooftops and floating Mobile Homes to rescue people from. Because the size of this storm and the power, there may not be a lot left in its path where it came ashore and that tidal surge wiped out homes and businesses. It may not be attics for people to climb into as we saw in katrina. So we are hopeful, but well be ready to rescue those people immediately after the winds die down. And just very quickly, you do think the levees are going to be okay in New Orleans . I know thats been a subject of an area of concern. Sounds like theyll hold . I think New Orleans should be okay. There is 2 Billion in federal levees being constructed in my payish. A lot of those levees are brandnew. No vegetation, and were concerned that that raw dirt could wash away pretty quickly. And that is a certain. We needed a couple more years before those levees could grow vegetation and really hold up the Storm Surge. So were concerned about those levees with raw dirt washing away as well in plaquemines parish. Lieutenant governor billy nungesser, Best Of Luck to you. Thanks for joining us. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Nearly 300,000 customers without power in louisiana right now. That number is going to go up, No Doubt about that. And the storm is nowhere near over. We can see from our crews who are all across the Storm Area as Hurricane Ida is coming ashore there. Just sending us devastating pictures of the damage and destruction. Our special coverage continues. Youre live in the cnn newsroom. Growing up in a little red house, on the edge of a forest in norway, there were three things my family encouraged kindness, honesty and hard work. Over time, ive come to add a fourth be curious. Be curious about the world around us, and then go. Go with an open heart, and you will find inspiration anew. Viking. Exploring the world in comfort. Were here theyre finally here. This year, here means getting back to Everything Theyve missed. Here achoo . Here look over here join lysol here for healthy schools in keeping here healthy. When you buy a pack of Lysol Disinfecting wipes, another pack will be donated to a school in need. So everyone has enough protection to stay here, here, and here. Lysol here for healthy schools wow. Nobodys here. 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A reporter from one of our affiliates holding up a wind gauge. Look at these structures. The home right there just seeing that roof being peeled off as that wind is just hammering this part of louisiana. Heres another structure. Looks like maybe some apartments where the officer has just completely blown off there. Our thanks to that reporter there with the affiliate who just sent in that video to us. Just a sense of the devastating effects of Hurricane Ida as the category 4 storm makes landfall in louisiana. Were going to, of course, continue to stay on top of this. And one coastal city feeling the effects of this storm is Morgan City, louisiana. Joining me is morgan City Mayor Lee dragna. What are the conditions like in your city . Are things worsening there . It looks like youre right in the thick of it. Yeah, theyre starting to the conditions are deteriorating pretty good. I think were about 50 or 60mileanhour winds. A lot of trees down, power out. Power outage. Some issues at the hospital. A few things. Not horribly bad but only going to get worse as the day goes on. And you mentioned the hospital. How are things holding up at the hospital . Oh, they have been having a few issues with the Generator Switching over. So they some electricians went over there and helped them out. But they are doing okay now. Theyre fine. And whats your main concern right now as the Storm And Effect of this storm make their way toward Morgan City. We can see the eye heading towards houma la, la. Morgan city is off to the west of that but its coming your way. What is your big concern right now . Wind. The Wind And Loss of power. We have a lot of older people in this town. We need a lot of them need Oxygen Saturation units, stuff like that because of covid. So they need electricity. So weve got to figure that out as we go. A lot of people left. They heed the warning, but a lot of people stayed, too. We have to deal with that when this is over. And i was just about to ask you that. Do you know how many residents stayed behind . And whats the terrain like in Morgan City . Will emergency crews, first responders be able to get to your residents who did stay behind . Yeah, were not worried. We have a good Levee System and a really good pumping system. Were not worried about that. First responders might have to cut their way through to them through the trees if too many trees have fallen. What are you telling your residents if they call for an emergency, Call 911. Do they have to wait it out or can your crews still get out at this point . What is the guidance youre giving residents . Its completely up to the Fire Department. If the Fire Department says they can go and they want to go Theyll Go. Right now, Theyll Go. But if it gets much worse, theyll not be able to go. You cant put all of our equipment and all of our people in harms way, you know. Were not going to do that. If the Fire Chief says no, its no. So, its his call. Right. And you mentioned that many of the residents in your city are senior citizens. Do you get the sense that because of the covid situation that more people decided to stay behind and hunker down . Do you understand what the rationale may be for some of these residents as to why they made that decision . I believe that 100 . And a lot of them told me that. I cant argue with them. I cant help them right now. Thats the problem. So theyre telling you, im staying home because of covid. I dont want to catch the Delta Variant, that sort of thing . Thats correct. All right. Morgan City Mayor Lee dragna. I certainly understand that concern, but we appreciate your time. Thanks so much. Good luck to you and the fire officials and folks at the hospital who are dealing with this. Thanks for your time. Thank you. And our coverage continues of Hurricane Ida in just a moment. Well be back in just a moment with more. 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Its so much new theres no time for serena wait, what . sorry, we dont even have time to say they were created by World Class bakers oh, guess we did seriously . my bad. Its an important time to save. With priceline, you can get up to 60 off amazing hotels. And when you get a big deal. You feel like a big deal. Priceline. Every trip is a big deal. Want to check back in On Houma, louisiana, not too far from where Hurricane Ida made landfall. Cnns Jason Carroll is there. Its right on top of you right now, it seems. What can you tell us . It is, jim. Weve shifted positions to a safer location next to a Brick Structure to give us more of a barrier against what were experiencing right now as the eye is upon us. Behind us, this tree has fallen. The tree has come uprooted behind us. You can see that here. More reports coming in from throughout houma. More downed trees. Power lines. Damage to structures. Tough to see out there as you can see the Eye Wall of Hurricane Ida coming down On Houma at the moment as we speak. Emergency officials are basically telling folks that you are sheltering in place. Once the eye passes and there might be a bit of a respite, a bit of calm, continue to shelter in place and to stay in place because youll have the Back Side of the storm thats going to come in as well. When speaking to Emergency Officials i asked them, whats going to dictate what you do next and how you proceed once the Storm Moves on . Basically was told, they say theyll let Mother Nature take its course to tell them what they can do and when they can do it. Again, i want to emphasize in speaking to the sheriff, i asked him, and this was an hour or so ago if he received any Emergency Calls from folks in need of assistance or needing help and he says so far, at least so far, he still has not received they have not received Emergency Calls for people needing assistance. Again, theres been about 60 to 80 of the folks who live In Houma heeding those Evacuation Warnings knowing this was going to be upon them and got out. That still leaves a significant number of people sheltering in place. So waiting now for the eye of the storm to pass over. Then perhaps a bit of a break and then well have the Back End of this storm as well. Right now houma is right in the center of it. Jim . Certainly is. Jason, youre in the center of it. Were hearing now from louisiana officials about 400,000 Power Outages in louisiana. That is up from the number we had earlier this afternoon. When youre looking around the area off camera, what are you seeing, jason, in terms of, are Emergency Responders out and about at this point or are they hunkering down . Are you seeing people try to look and see whats happening. Lookyloos, that sort of thing. Are you seeing anything like that . Good question, jim. A couple of things. In terms of Emergency Responders, i do know that a number of them are hunkering down at a secure location next to the courthouse. That is a Brick Structure so they are hunkering down and not going out. They are waiting for this to pass before moving out and doing any assessments. I can tell you that at this point, power is out. Weve seen and heard, you know Power Outages coming through. Weve seen we can see right now that light there, that flic. Ive not seen one lookyloo out here. Weve now shifted our location to a position against a Bruck Structure where theres a Brick Overhang and an area to shield ourselves a bit more from these very severe Wind Gusts coming through here. In terms of emergency vehicles, they made it very clear. They are staying hunkering down until all of this passes. And then, again, theyll let Mother Nature dictate how they can get out there. What he says theyll do is obviously try to get their motorcade out there to see if they can make their way through some of The Streets to see about some of the damage and downed Power Lines. Theres already been they have reports of downed Power Lines In Houma throughout the area. Basically what theyll be doing is waiting for all of this to pass through before they head out. Jason, great report. Our thanks to your photographer as well for hanging in there. We know youre taking all the Safety Precautions necessary to bring us that live report. Well get back to you shortly. I want to show you some live pictures of the situation in New Orleans. Just a nasty scene in the big easy as Hurricane Ida is starting to lash that part of louisiana. Its not made its way to New Orleans just yet, but you can see from that situation In Houma where jason is, those kinds of winds will be heading to New Orleans. If people are watching us in New Orleans, dont look out the window and think this is the worst of it. The worst of it is coming your way. Stay tuned. Stay inside. Stay safe. Our special coverage of Hurricane Ida continues after this. Youre live in the cnn newsroom. Baptiste caretto. R ancestry threads all of the little facts together into a narrative so you get to feel like youre walking the same path they did. [whispered] Air Wick. Get more fresh fragrance with Air Wick scented oils. For the price of one frebreze refill, you get two Air Wick refills. For over 50 more of the fresh fragrance you love. Choose Air Wick. I booked our hotel on kayak. Its flexible if we need to cancel. Cancel. I havent left the house in a year. Nothing will stop me from vacation. No canceling. Flexible cancellation. Kayak. Search one and done. Is struggling to manage your Type 2 Diabetes knocking you out of your zone . Lowering your a1c with onceweekly ozempic® can help you get back in it. 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Ayy, ayy, ayy yeah, we fancy like applebees on a Date Night got that Bourbon Street Steak with the Oreo Shake get some whipped cream on the top too two straws, one check, girl, i got you bougie like natty in the Styrofoam Squeaksqueakin in the Truck Bed All The Way Home some alabamajamma, she my dixieland delight ayy, thats how we do, how we do, fancy like, oh things are definitely getting more intense in New Orleans right now where cnns Nadia Ramiro Is Standing by. The wind and Storm Surge are so strong that we know they partially reversed the flow of the Mississippi River near New Orleans. We heard that earlier this afternoon from one of our meteorologists. What are you seeing on your end . Looks like the wind is picking up . Its getting as intense as we saw with Jason Carroll awhile ago In Houma. Absolutely, jim. And we last time we talked to you were over by canal street, closer to the french quarter. Weve moved. Were by st. Charles avenue. This is st. Charles avenue and behind me is a trolley. A car coming so well move out of the way. There are people moving about here during the storm. So this is st. Charles avenue. And on the other side of The Street is the trolley system. Its unreal being out here. It feels like youre on the set of a movie, but its a movie starring Hurricane Ida, and its real life. So take a look at this building. The awning on this building ripped off because of ida. All of that strong wind. And it has just been lifted up and banging back against the window. Were waiting for it to come flying off at any moment. If you look on the ground, you have pieces of the roof. This is part of the roof from a building behind our Photo Journalist dominik swan. That was ripped off during the storm and is lying on The Street here. Its why we have 400,000some people without power because this part of town is full of trees. And those trees are breaking limbs everywhere and theyre crashing onto those Power Lines. And power is out. And it is so unsafe for people to be out so those emergency crews, Emergency Responders are not out right now because theyre trying to keep themselves safe and then Theyll Go out and help people when they can. Jim . And what can you tell us about the can you tell us more about that building just to the side of you where you can see the awning. The awning or umbrellas have been ripped off of that Rooftop Restaurant there . Did that just happen in the last couple of minutes . Does that go to how serious this is becoming . Yeah, this is something that has only gotten worse. When we arrived maybe 20 minutes ago, still portions of the awning were attached to the building. Now you can see its all the way ripped off and lying on the side of that railing there. The Railing Isnt going to hold it up forever, right . Especially knowing that the worst of ida is yet to come. So that will likely come down. This part of town is used to having those Power Outages because its an older part of town, because they have large trees. Some of these buildings, though, were able to survive other storms but ida just too strong for it now. Jim . Absolutely. And we know as the weather intensifies in your area, those awnings across The Street, they may just blow right off of that rooftop there. So you Stay Safe, nadia. We know you will and your crew. Great pictures from your photographer as well. Thanks for that report. We appreciate it. Coming up next much more coverage of our live reporting on Hurricane Ida. That is coming up next. Youre live in the cnn newsroom. Stay with us. Your Shipping Manager left to find themself. leaving you lost. You need to hire. I need indeed. Indeed you do. Indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. Visit indeed. Com hire visible is wireless that doesnt play games. 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At university of phoenix, you can count on fixed, affordable tuition from the moment you enroll to the day you graduate from your program. Learn more about our Tuition Guarantee at phoenix. Edu our continuing coverage of Hurricane Ida as its Battering Louisiana right now. Cnns Derek Van Dam is on the story In Houma. Derek, you have just been getting hammered there all afternoon. But it looks pretty bad right now. What can you tell us . Jim, these are literally scenes of my worst nightmares. We are staring down the eye of a Monster Category 4 hurricane. And it is unleashing its fury On Houma, louisiana, as we speak. I have to continue to peer behind me because a large tree has just fallen down, and i want to make sure it doesnt travel this way. What you cant see to my right and to my left is that i do have protection between this concrete building. But this is what its like to ride out a category 4 hurricane. It is extreme. It is loud. And it is literally feeling like A Million Pin Pricks Battering my face as these gusts come through. Weve had intermittent Internet Connection here so we dont know how close we are to the Eye Wall, but my guess is that we have to be ten minutes from the strongest part of Hurricane Ida. You have to feel for the people here and just talking to some of the residents who decided to evacuate to this hotel where we are at, and they have told us that they are pleased that it is at least a hurricane thats Making Landfall during the day because they feared for the residents who did not come to these shelters. Did not come to these hotels and are riding the storm out in their homes. If it was dark, this would be an absolute catastrophic disaster for these people to live through something like this. We at least have the safety of a building in front of us. Jim . Absolutely. And were glad that youre taking those precautions. Derek, since youve been there all afternoon, does it feel like things have progressively gotten worse to this point . Are these the most intense effects of the Storm Youve felt so far . All right. Yeah, this is without a doubt the strongest part of the Storm Weve felt so far, and just wow. Let these visuals play out. The reason i can stand here is only because of this concrete wall to my left. I am literally seeing trees topple over behind me. Weve got trees on weve got trees on top of vehicles in our parking lot. We have no power here. Were running off of this vehicles ac generated power. And were thankful we have it, but every once in a while, some of the strongest Wind Gusts take and knock this suburban, large suv, up and down. You can see that rocking motion. Just because of the pure strength of the wind. Im not a particularly tall man. Im not a particularly heavy man. 510, 150 pounds. Maybe a bit too much information for our viewers, but let me tell you why thats important. Because without the protection from this wall here, if i step ten feet behind me, this small Little Man would be knocked on his ass. Jim . Derek, i tell you, you weigh a little more than that with all that water on you. But you Stay Safe there and hunker down in that Crew Vehicle that we have you in. But appreciate that live coverage. You can see derek right now just having a tough time maintaining his footing. Well check back with derek. Let him take cover and get safe. Well get back to him in just a minute. More of our special coverage of Hurricane Ida is coming up next. Youre live in the cnn newsroom. [truck horn blares] vo the subaru forester. Dog tested. Dog approved. Get ready our most popular battery is even more powerful. The stronger, lastslonger energizer max. You need an ecolab scientific clean here. And here. Which is why the scientific expertise that helps Operating Rooms stay clean now helps the places you go too. Look for the Ecolab Science certified seal. 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Statewide, more than 400,000 customers, 400,000 customers without power. That number expected to keep rising as the Storm Moves inland. Ida is now tied with Hurricane Laura as the strongest storm ever to hit louisiana. Were tracking this from every angle with our team of reporters. Jason carroll live In Houma, louisiana. Jason,