The worst. As soon as the storm passes, well put this, well put the countrys full might behind the rescue and recovery. The help from the federal government and local crews will be needed. Right now, a half million people in the new Orleans Area do not have power. Joining us now to show the power of the storm, Nbc News Meteorologist Bill Karins and ali velshi. We can see the strong winds there. How is it on the ground . The signal is going in and out. Were trying everything possible. This is the way it goes right now. These are gusts. Theyre not sustained wind. As you can see, when they come in. What im going through right now, it feels like Microderm Abrasion on my face. Our viewers say what are you putting yourself in this danger for . Theres a Concrete Wall there so im completely blocked the the elements by a wall and from the hotel in front of me and this is still what im getting. Were a couple blocks from the Mississippi River here. So some of this may be coming off. You see these very, very strong gusts. We now have more than half A Million people in New Orleans out of power, Local News is reporting downed trees. Theyre not downed trees in the way you would be used to because of a lot of rain. Theyre broken trees. The wind is just snapping things. Transformer stations are blowing. So a lot of trouble in New Orleans that they were not expecting. For the moment it does appear the levees are holding strong. The Storm And Flood mitigation measures that have been put in place since Hurricane Katrina hit this place, this city 16 years ago today. So the city for the most part is not flooding but this wind, these gusts which disappeared into nothing, suddenly come back, are causing a great deal of damage. The governor has just a little while ago asked for a major Disaster Declaration from the president of the united states. More than the normal declaration. Were waiting to see if the president does that. The reporting that were getting out of Grand Isle, louisiana, where theyre saying it is inundated and there can be no rescues. I spent time there and it is supposed to be inundated. It never doesnt get completely flooded. The ocean has washed over the island. There are actual waves going over the island. The tops of houses are still there. People know that. They know their houses are built to manage it and theyre above the level that the water goes to. Officials are saying, if youre stuck anywhere, Grand Isle or New Orleans, youre not getting any help from the time being. With these Wind Gusts, they cant send these people out. When they do send them out, these are the trucks going out. They are staging here. Theyre ready to go up. They have the buckets to cut trees, to reinforce power lines. Thats harrahs behind me. The roof has started to come off. If these winds carry for another hour or so, youll get more damage. As bill can explain, some of it is gusting and then it just stops. Were just getting rain. It is raining from the other direction now. Let me ask you. Youre only 30 miles from the eye right now. So this is as close as youll get. Are you noticing the frequency of these high gusts like were seeing there . And visually, that looks to be 60 to 70 miles an hour winds. Is the frequency increasing . Reporter it has been quite sustained. I know theyre not sustained winds but the gusts seem to be more frequent and coming in, im almost a 200pound Guy and ive done enough hurricanes to know, i dont typically get blown any distance. There are moments where ive had to grab something in order to not keep getting blown over. So yeah. The gusts are coming through. Theyre intermittent. Theyre suddenly stopping and i can completely stop and stand completely. And then you see stuff like the happening where it starts to push me and i have to grind in to make sure that i dont get pushed over. You have two to three hours of what youre experiencing now. And then it will slowly begin to taper off in the overnight hours. But two or three more hours of this and that roof behind you, eventually the structures begin to give away. I do want to ask you if you can hear me. Im not sure that you can. Reporter as were talking about this, weve just lost power around us. I dont know if a transformer has blown or Something But Everything got dark around us right now. It does seem the power has come out. Were in a nearby hotel that has Generator Power and that is not working either. Were now seeing Power Outages in Downtown Louisiana which weve heard reports of from local media around places where there are more trees. The trees have been taking the power lines. Were downtown literally 50 feet from a Power Station and the lights have gone off here. I want to take us to some New Video that were getting from golden meadow. You see that there. Massive flooding. You can see in the distance cars submerged underwater. We can go back to that image of the flooding so people can see the cars there. Is that what we were expecting . This is what you expect in the areas outside of the levee protection. People were outside of that area were told to evacuate. They were told to leave. And that was why. Because they were not protected by the levees like New Orleans was and some other areas like morgan city. So you know, all along those coastal parishes, people were told to get out for two reasons. One, the Storm Surge. And if youre in a trailer or mobile home, even if it has the best straps in the world, it wont hold together with winds of 130 to 140 miles an hour. They were telling those people to get out. One thing that did just happen at the top of the hour. Winds are at 125 miles an hour. For the first time in a long time, it is no longer a category 4 hurricane. It is still a major category 3 hurricane. So painfully, now six hours after landfall, still a major hurricane and it is only dropped from 150 to 125. So well probably be lower this to a category 2. This is about as close as it will get. These are the top Wind Gusts that ive seen. About 153, that was the landfall. This is the most extreme damage. Even galliano was 122. So New Orleans at 87 miles an hour. Thats enough to do some roof damage. Now well start to see the gusts increasing. You notice the center of the storm has started more northwest. The edge, especially the West Side of town at the airport is right on the edge of what weve called the core hurricane. The core of the hurricane. So its a very close call. The West Side of New Orleans would have more damage than the east side of the New Orleans in the morning. And it was a good point. All the power is going out. A storm looks different when The Sun the keep daylight. It will be as dark and Pitch Black as can be. Youre staying with me. I appreciate that comment you made about how viewers wanted to know why you were out in the rain. Im glad Tow Sue Twitter has found you. Please stay safe. Storm surge and high winds are the major concern for people in jefferson parish. The Parish Sheriff joins us now on the phone. Thank you for your time. Talk me through situation right now in your community. Weve been pretty unique. Grand isle is the southern most border. We are catching Hurricane Ida from the coast to where we are now in our Population Center next to the city of New Orleans. And our Population Center, were getting in front of it with the Winds Averaging in the 100 miles an hour and gusts in the 130 range on our West Bank around the airport. And so that area i can look out my window. It is not looking good out there. Well keep plugging away. Hopefully we can get through this in the next several hours. We can work trying to clean up the community and trying to find a place to come home to. We really thank the people get out of the way and it gives us the ability to get to work and get to work quicker. Sheriff, do you have a sense of how many people have evacuated and how many people remain . Outside the Levee District, i would say the vast majority evacuated. Within the Levee District, a good number. The Traffic Yesterday getting out south of the city was extreme. Taking people eight, ten, 12 hours to take a trip that would normally take four or five. So a lot of people did leave without question. Inside the Levee District is not a big concern from a Storm Surge capacity. Power outages are extreme. An hour ago, it was without power and im sure that number is skyrocketed past there because we werent even into the brunt of the storm an hour ago. So nobody will have power around here and thats the case. Youre hoping that the roofs hold and the shingles hold and youll have people that hopefully their structures will be okay. Well have widespread damage. As my colleague said, sunrise will reveal how catastrophic this storm was for your community. Two questions for you. What are the resources that you need . And how do you then plan to deploy those resources . Im lucky from the standpoint that were used to this. I have people already on standby as soon as we get to a wind safety zone. We will start answering those calls for service, clearing The Roads and trig to get that to happen. The biggest problem that you have is the rebuilding stage. Well have several hundred thousand people come back to moments are destroyed and theyll need housing and a place to get through. And we know what the Housing Market is right now. It is very difficult. Building expenses are high as it is. And having the ability with Insurance Companies to come in and help rebuilding is something that we will certainly be very comfortable with the louisiana sheriffs association, our Task Force, we work around the country. I had 60 people last year in Lake Charles for Hurricane Ida for two months and im sure theyll return the favor when the time comes. Weve spoken with other local leaders who have talked about the importance of people staying in their homes specifically not to tax first responders with additional challenges. What is your message to somebody . Maybe its time to run to the Grocery Store . Maybe its time on head outside. What do you want people topping about the importance . Those who have stayed in their homes about staying through until it passes . Not only that. Give us time assess and clear roadways. Our biggest problem is not them running to the Grocery Store. It is not open. It is running to go empty out their Neighbors Freezer or their relatives freezer. When you take those chances and run into a Telephone Pole or a Telephone Wire or a tree, then we have to respond to that individual and put them into a hospital, lets be frank. We dont have room for them now. So having the ability to really do calculated risk, you know, we will respond to take someone to a hospital. We dont want you out Chain Sawing a tree because you put everybody at risk and we cant get to you as quickly as we would like to. We may need a front loader so we can get to someone as he house. So taking those risks, give us the opportunity for a day or two to clear those roads. It really lets our members be slow and methodical and not having to put themselves in danger. When are you going to know that you and your community are in the clear . You know, probably around midnight, it will start slowing down. Well start Making Evaluations overnight. 2 00, 3 00 in the morning, i will start answering Emergency Calls, rescue calls. First light, we will start assessing and starting to get the work to clear some roadways off. So well start. I think well be out there before first light. Those are the specifics. The sheriff from jefferson parish. Thank you for being with us. I want to you stay with us and our continuing coverage of Hurricane Ida. This hour, well hear from officials in st. Charles parish in louisiana and get an update from gulfport looks lou. Still ahead on american voices. Voices. Music playing. Theres an america we build and one we explore one thats been paved and one thats forever wild but freedom means you dont have to choose just one adventure you get both. Introducing the Allnew 3row Jeep grand Cherokee L jeep. Theres only one. Liberty mutual Customizes Car Insurance jeep grand Cherokee L so you only pay for what you need. How much money can liberty mutual save you . One two three four five 72,807 72,808. Dollars. Yep. Everything hurts. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. vo unconventional thinking means we see things differently, so you can focus on what matters most. Thats how weve become the leader in 5g. 1 in customer satisfaction. And a partner who includes 5g in every plan, so you get it all. Its taken a lot to get to this moment. Grew up at midnight the maccabees dreams are on the line. You got this. Refresh. It all, comes down, to this. The brutal path from Hurricane Ida comes 16 years to the Day Katrina made landfall. Images from that day still haunting. The devastation seared into the memories of those who live in New Orleans and ida is proving to be a major task for the citys levee system. More than 14 Billion have been invested into the system and the governor said the system should hold off. Joining us now, the former commander joint Task Force for katrina. Thank you so much for being with us. You know, after katrina, we talked a lot about resilience, right . Not just building cities back to be what they were but building cities that could be resilient and could handle the future storm that we knew were coming. What lessons have we learned to prepare for this moment . Well, a decisive action was taken when 80 of the city was overtaken by water when the levees failed. Everything from redesigning the Flood Control System to creating more levees, putting pumps in, and putting gates at the canals that helped drain the city. So when the Surge Water comes in, it would be pushed inside and destroyed those levees and thats where we took our major failure. And then some major levee systems out, really a big piece of infrastructure to go there. To prevent that surge from coming into the city. So multibillion dollar, as you say. 15 Billion worth of work. But it was built at a category 3 level. There are still parts of that system that could get some over the top but were a lot more resilient city now than with katrina, with better command and control. People get more information. They get more accurate information. The challenge now will be to get the Power Grid up and to find out who needs help in the Search And Rescue phase. The city seems to be holding up well. The pumps can keep up with pumping the water out of city, then the wind problems, and Wind Damage may be a bigger problem in New Orleans this time as katrina, 80 of the city was underwater. Wind damage could be the major incidents in jefferson and new Orleans Parish this time. This has not been the first test of this infrastructure. Louisiana battered by several storms last year including Hurricanes Laura and delta. What did those Storms Resbreel the efforts made to fortify the state . Well, it reveals that the coordination between fema and the state during this phase of the operation, the Search And Rescue and Response Phase has gotten an a plus grade. The challenge is how do we get on recovery . And a year ago we had the supplemental group by the senate to do the public work that needs to be done to bring public housing back and to restore the public buildings. So the damage from laura can be replaced in the different places to the north. So we have to get that fixed. Fema and the state and the federal government, they all do a great job in the Search And Rescue and response. It took total of about ten years to recover from katrina from the devastation and the build back better infrastructure that was put. But theres no reason why we are still waiting to get to recovery, which happened a year ago this past friday. I say that with all due respect. That needs to be fixed. All right, thank you so much for your time. I want to go now theres one other point. Go ahead. We need fema now while people have electricity to open up individual stance. Individual assistance helps people who evacuated and where they stand, that should be automatic when you get a president ial declaration, or a mandatory evacuation. They go through a bureaucratic process, waiting two or three days until the governor asks for individual assistance when people are out burning up their Credit Cards staying in hotels. That should be automatic when the president signed the declaration and the government. And fema should open those lines up while people have power. Now youll have half of louisiana that needs Fema Help and they dont have any electricity to apply for it. We have to fix that. Were using last Century Technology and techniques to get people the individual assistance which is money they need on survive on in the coming days and weeks. Thank you so much for keeping us focused on what this will look like. Baton rouge, louisiana is in the path of the storm. Miguel, what are you seeing . Reporter they could be right in the target, the center of the storm. Were seeing the early outer bands. The winds over the last 30 minutes or so have begun to intense identify. Were now getting that sideways rain that is stinging your face. Were expecting the conditions to deteriorate over the next couple hours and overnight, to be in the brunt of the storm. The city did not have mandatory evacuations. Theres a lot of people and weve seen them, hanging out and watching the storm. It starts to roll in. The conditions are slowly starting to change. Theres growing concern here. The top City Official are at the Emergency Office of command trying to monitor the situations. They say when the brunt of the storm does hit, everyone needs to be off the street. They wont send City Responders out to do rescues because the conditions will be life threatening. We expect the worst of the conditions in about three or four hours from now. And officials are asking everyone to hunker down as the brunt of the storm slowly starts but surely starts to move in. In Baton Rouge, louisiana. Stay safe. A live look from louisiana at this hour. After the break, a look at the latest track and timing. Stay with us. Iming. Stay with us agerelated Macular Degeneration may lead to severe vision loss, so the national Eye Institute did 20 years of clinical studies on a formula found in preservision. 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Bill karins is tracking where it is heading next. You flagged flash flood emergency, is that more of what we can expect . No. This was one of the first times that we heard that one of the levees was being overtopped by water. This is not in New Orleans. Overtopping means, pretend this was the levee. The water has built up high enough, the water is coming over it. Sometime that can weaken a levee and lead to a failure. If the structure is fine, that Overstopping A Temporary Problem until the Water Level begins to lower. Because it is going to that area, they issued a flash flood emergency. Theyre telling the residents to get to safety immediately. Were going to get more information on that. Were not sure how populated of an area that is. That is the first time ive heard anywhere throughout the storm that weve had any problems with any levees. We know weve had unprotected areas from Storm Surge but this was a protected area. So well get more details. Extreme wind warning, it looks like that has been canceled. The winds are low enough. In the last two minutes, it went away on the radar screen. That doesnt mean we wont have Wind Damage. They only issued it for really intense winds. The outer band of the storm is still what we call the eye or the center of the storm on the western side of New Orleans right now, so anywhere on the West Side of lake pontchartrain. Thats where the winds will be very strong. When the winds go over the lake, they dont have the frictional component or the houses or the trees so the winds will be really strong, especially with that southerly wind coming in. The winds have come down a little bit. You will remember they were 82, 83 miles an hour. 71 at the lake front. We havent seen Incredible Winds in Baton Rouge. Were at 44. With the winds passing to the east, i think hammond will have more winds. The winds with more Potential Will in the hammond area. The levees have protected the new Orleans Area. Were getting the heavy rain tonight. Match winds 80 to 100 miles an hour, that should be just about over with. Most of the damage has already occurred and theres the category 3, 120 miles an hour. Once the winds begin to knocking down, well start to switch over to tracking all the flooding problem. All right. Youre staying with me. Thank you. Communities across louisiana are hunkering down as Hurricane Ida brings rain and heavy winds to the area. This morning crews in one parish closed Flood Gates to frequent Area South of New Orleans. Joining us now, kirk, thank you so much for being with us. Governor John Bell edwards warned of significant Storm Surge in your area. What is it like the there . Reporter you see the parish is 65 miles long from the top of the bottom. And our lowest part which goes out toward the gulf. Thats it. Thats the end of the road. So we have some geographically challenged areas, as you can see. Were separated by the Mississippi River on the East Bank and the West Bank. And as the meteorologist spoke, he did say we are going to see some overtoppings in the breakaway area. So that area is the East Bank of our parish. That has been under mandatory evacuation since friday at 3 00 p. M. We think we got a good bit of our citizens out. We had our sheriffs get them notified. We sent out a robocall. So far we havent even a 911 or an Emergency Call from anyone. So were pretty confident that we got most of those people out. We were just hearing about how important that communication was. How that was learned as a lesson from katrina. I want to bring in the meteorologist that you were speaking who does have a question for you. You go all the way down to venice. From your southern towns, what have you been hearing any reports from anyone down there . Thats where the strongest winds were. Ive had some people stay there. A little above that. The reports that i did, theyve been hammering all day with wind and rain. We think those levees are pretty well situated because they were redone after katrina. This is the anniversary of katrina 16 years ago today. And it came right over louisiana. A lot of that was redone by the core. We dont know how much water is pushed up on the highway. And i cant get commerce back north and south. It will be a challenge for many days to come. So if you have residents watching right now that have evacuated and trying to get information about what their town looks like. What can they expected to come back to . What do you think it will look like . We were hoping maybe some of this would subside and we could make assessments this evening. It is now close to dark. We probably wont be able to get crews out. First daylight, we will hit the Ground Running to see and make assessments of where were at. Were hoping and praying this storm keeps moving. Thats the challenge that we hear with the south winds. It pushes water in on the East Bank. But the rotation will push it to the West Bank. It will be a tough few days. Even though storm will movie, there will still be some challenges. I do want to ski, parts of the parish under a manner to evacuation. Do you have a sense of how many people chose to stay . Well, on friday at a certain point, we increased that more northerly on Saturday Morning and that was the mandatory evacuation. We saw a steady stream of residents getting out, moving to irwho ground. We felt pretty confident but covid has made more challenges. Some people dont want to leave, some cant afford it. Sf so the breaking we had for the overtopping for the levee. 10 being very concerned, what is your assessment for the Levee Safety and the overtopping . Im concerned. As long as these winds keep pushing in, we have some problems that are going to occur. It is constantly pressure on that water, pushing it up, the constant pressure on the levees, the integrity of it. So yes. Im concerned. I would say a 9 or a 10. Im confident that we got the residents out. Again, we continued to monitor with the sheriffs office. Weve done a phenomenal job of getting in touch, moving those people along. And you said they were under a mandatory evacuation anyway. If they were to call 911 because of the overtopping of the levee and they want help, will they get help this evening . We do have them stationed in the higher ground area. We could probably reach them if the water has not gone there. It will be challenges in this weather. So there are rescues taking place right now . No, no calls have come into our setup. So no. Were not sending anybody out if we cant have to. Those people on the East Bank are trammed on that side of the river. So those guys will try to make every attempt if something comes up. Well let you get back to work. 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Our Health Care system, our hospitals are hunkering down. They are caring for the patient thats are within their walls. Our first responders will be unable to get to you. President Biden Yesterday reminding americans to wear a mask and social distance as they seek shelter from the storm. Joining me now, the chief Operating Officer Childrens Hospital of New Orleans. Thank you for being with us. The Louisiana Department of health reports more than 100,000 covid cases among children statewide. How many patients is your hospital treating . Weve treated hundreds of children with Covid19 Disease over the past weeks and months. Currently there are nine children at Childrens Hospital New Orleans hospitalized with covid19 and another two who are hospitalized with multisystem inflammatory disease. How have you been preparing for this hurricane and what we keep hearing about the potential loss of power . We this morning locked the hospital down about 7 00 a. M. We have about 400 Team Members on Site Caring for the 120 approximately children who are hospitalized with us currently. We made sure we had our Fuel Tanks filled up. We have a generator that can keep us on our own power supply. One around the campus, battening down the hatches. Given all those preparations, what is the greatest danger to hospital patients, to your staff during the storm and its aftermath . I think fortunately, our facility is faring very well. Our Team Members will be safe during and after the storm. Our big focus is sure we can weather the brunnel of the storm. The facility is holding up very well and will continue to monitor that during the duration of the severe weather. It will very quickly turn our attention to the needs of the community after the storm. Of course, we keep hearing from Health Care providers about how they are absolutely fatigued. How they are watching surge after surgery during this pandemic. I have to imagine that is true for at of the providers at your hospital. How is ida going to affect the fight against covid19 in louisiana . What will it mean to Health Care providers who will already feeling like it has been a long road . Well, one thing i can tell you about our Team Members in New Orleans, their resilient. It has been a long 18 months going through covid19 hurricanes on top of it making it even worse. Our team is resilient. More proud to be here and take care of the kids in the community. Weve heard a lot about that and i suspect well hear about it in the days to come. Weve seen roofs torn off by ida. Morgan chesky is there for us. How is it looking there . It will be a rough night. A rough week and a really long night ahead. Weve seen the storm get stronger over today. The impact is yet to be really seen. What weve witnessed so far is heart breaking. We know that at one point, the western Eye Wall of this hurricane, somewhat stalled over the city Of Houma where the Fire Chief says 60 followed Evacuation Orders and got out of town. About 40 chose to stay or they were unable to. They couldnt afford to and they had a reason to stay behind. A lot of people riding it out. As a result, the whole region through here was whipped with those incredible devastating winds. The winds were gusting 140 miles an hour. Not too far from where im standing. Our crew was unable to seek shelter inside this massive Parking Garage and for good reason. Trees started to snap around us. Roofs were lifted off nearby Business Buildings and we know homes were affected as well for the few people weve been in touch with here in houma. People are without power and they cone know when it will come back on. The struggle is just beginning with this massive category 4. They knew they were in the path. And it was devastatingly consistent. It nearly went right over the top of us, skirting the true eye and were catching the Back Side of that hurricane as it makes its way further into louisiana. A little earlier i was talking with our Colleague Sam Brock in Baton Rouge. I could watch cars driving behind him. Despite all these orders for people to stay inside. Im not sure the spot youre in, if you can see any time of traffic. Do you have the sense people are leading the warnings to stay inside . Reporter yeah, well, people in louisiana, they know a thing or two about hurricanes. And the folks in Baton Rouge were certainly not dealing with the conditions that people here in houma were. You barely could drive, period. And we know at one time, it almost seemed like a whiteout because of the wind and the rain going through here. The only cars i saw were first responders or stormchasers. Even the Fire Department telling me, Ched To Hunker down for several hours before they felt it was safe enough to get back out and check on people who may be in harms way. Weve asked a number of officials when they think this will ease up. Some have said midnight tonight. Well be thinking of you. Theres more on Hurricane Ida right after this. N Hurricane Id Right after this we did it again. Verizon has been named americas most reliable network by rootmetrics. And our customers rated us 1 for Network Quality in america according to j. D. Power. Number one in reliability, 16 times in a row. Most awarded for Network Quality, 27 times in a row. Proving once again that nobody builds networks like verizon. Thats why were building 5g right, thats why theres only one best network. Paul loves food. But his diabetes made food a mystery. Everything felt like a no. but then paul went from no to know. With Freestyle Libre 14 day, now he knows how food affects his glucose. 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Only when your clients make more money . judith yep, we do better when our clients do better. At Fisher Investments were clearly different. As someone who resembles Someone Else. I appreciate that liberty mutual knows everyones unique. Thats why they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. [ nautical Horn Blows ] i mean just because you look like Someone Else doesnt mean you eat off the floor, or yell at the vacuum, or need flea medication. Oh, yeah. Thats the spot. Only pay for what you need. Liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty now to gulfport, mississippi, where Cure Fe Curf have been in place since early this morning. President biden approved an Emergency Declaration in mississippi ahead of the storm yesterday. Today, hes urging residents across the gulf to take the storm seriously. Nbcs Shaquille Brewster is on the ground for us in gulfport. We noticed you having to try to bracing yourself with the heavy winds during your earlier hits today. How is it looking at the moment, my friend . How does it look, alicia . Im doing a different kind of braying now because the winds are really getting intense now. I tell you, this is the strongest wind i have experienced here in gulfport, mississippi. You get the wind with the combination of the rain and that is really what is becoming so threatening. I want to widen out our shot a little bit because you can see what this wind does. Remember, this is not the center of the storm. We are not in the direct path of the storm, and look at the damage that youre seeing at the Parking Garage that we have been taking shelter at for most of the day. That is the concern that you hear from local officials that are telling people to stay off The Roads, to stay outside areas like this, because its just too dangerous. Especially in areas when theyre dealing with Storm Surge in lowlying areas and also when the flooding is at risk. I want you to listen to what the mayor told me to the comparison about what he saw and what he was expecting and what he saw with Hurricane Katrina years ago. Complacency kills. These storms are unpredictable. Every one is different. They have their own personalities. You have to take every single storm seriously because they can shift, or you could have a Tornado Spin up in the middle of this. Katrina was one of the worst on record. The Front Line coastal areas were really scrubbed away. Thousands of homes just destroyed. Businesses put out. We were on our back for a while. So you hear a series of threats there. He mentioned the possibility of tornadoes. Ill tell you, within the past two hours, there was an actual Tornado Warning in this area. People were told to take shelter. That is a concern, that its not just the hurricane but its everything it brings, despite us being so far away from where the hurricane made landfall. Alicia. Shaq, two things that Bill Karins has shouted at me across the studio. One, you are 90 miles from the center of the storm. And that Wind Gust, when you came on air, 60 miles per hour, the Wind Gust you were experiencing. Shaq brewster, thank you so much. That is all the time i have for today. Im alicia menendez. Our coverage continues. Mehdi hasan after this break. Dont settle for products that give you a sort of white smile. Try new Crest Whitening emulsions for 100 whiter teeth. Its highly active Peroxide Droplets swipe on in seconds. Better. Faster. 100 whiter teeth. Crestwhitesmile. Com i became a Sofi Member because i needed to consolidate my credit card debt. I needed just one simple way to pay it all off. It was an easy decision to apply with sofi loans, just based on the Interest Rate and how much i would be saving. There was only one that stood out and one that actually made sense and that was sofi personal loans. It felt so freeing. 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Tonight, on the Mehdi Hasan show, our coverage of Hurricane Ida continues. Right now, thousands without power. The damage could be catastrophic. We have nbc Team Coverage across the gulf coast. Well take you there, and hospitals across the gulf states are already overwhelmed by covid, thanks in large part to policies pushed by governors like floridas ron desantis. Will they be able to withstand a surge in patients injured by the storm . Ill ask charlie crist. Plus, the digniied transfer of 13 fallen service members at Dover Air Force base today. Along with Family Members of those killed in the Terror Attack thursday at kabul airport. Well have the latest out of afghanistan. Hurricane ida is Hurricane Ida is tied for strongest storm to ever strike louisiana. Tonight, louisiana Governor John Bell edwards is requesting a president ial major Disaster Declaration due to the severe impact of the storm. And just this hour, were Hearing Reports that the Plaquemines Parish levees have overto