Hurricane Ida, the first major storm to slam Louisiana since Katrina in 2005, made landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana as a category four hurricane on Aug. 29.
Starting out as a mere category one hurricane in the Gulf, Ida grew strong relatively fast.
Within hours of landfall, the coast of Southeast Louisiana was unrecognizable. Buildings were torn apart and destroyed beyond repair, entire neighborhoods flooded, numerous trees capsized and power lines ripped straight out of the ground.
Upon hearing word of the approaching hurricane, the family of Robert Hughes made the smart decision to evacuate to both Dallas and his hometown, Ocean Springs.
The junior computer science, mathematics and economics triple major is also no stranger to the fierceness of Louisiana hurricanes with vivid memories from Katrina many years ago.
“I remember the mansions on the coast were absolutely destroyed, ” Hughes said. “Some of them are still abandoned to this day. I also vividly remember evacuating our property with 150 trees and returning to less than 50.”
One of the cities hit in Ida’s path, Houma, Louisiana was almost completely destroyed. Hughes’ aunt, a resident of Houma, lost everything in the last few days.
Ida destroyed her apartment and work building beyond repair, putting her not only out of home, but out of a job.
“Houma told all of its residents to not come back until further notice,” Hughes said. “They have no drinking water and the power will be out for at least another three months.”
Until further notice, Hughes’ aunt will float from house to house until she finds a new place to live.
University of Mississippi students that call this region of the South home and vividly remember the tragedies that accompanied Hurricane Katrina had no choice but to sit back and watch the storm ravage their parishes.
As a four-year-old girl at the time Katrina struck New Orleans, there is little Bella Icamina can recall about the catastrophe.
Icamina, a junior allied health studies and nursing major from New Orleans, recalls the bottom floor of their two-story home flooding and the loss of power. Memories that, although clear, exclude the thousands of deaths and frantic evacuations older generations speak to so clearly.
Although vague, her recollection was enough for her to anticipate the ramifications of Hurricane Ida and watch in horror with the rest of the nation as it devastated Southeast Louisiana.
While she had the assurance of safety for her mother and sister who evacuated to San Destin, Florida before the storm hit, Icamina was filled with worry for her father that stayed behind.
As a staff member for Touro Infirmary, a non-profit faith-based hospital in New Orleans, Icamina’s father remained in the city to shelter in with patients.
Contact between Icamina and her father was scarce, due – in part – to the fact that he is a first-responder, but she learned the hospital is operating with generators at half capacity. A dreadful thought as power outages are expected to last for another three weeks.
“It is going to be hard to get back to normal life,” Icamina said, “but I feel like everyone understands the urgency of recovering quickly after dealing with Katrina.”
Her family is fortunate enough to make it out of the storm with minimal damage. A small section of the family’s roof was ripped off during the storm, causing water to leak into the home and down to the first floor.
In the following days, Icamina’s mother will leave her little sister here in Oxford as their parents return home to assess the damage and recovery time of yet another Louisiana hurricane.
Grace Dragna, another Louisiana native student, is a senior public policy leadership and economics double major from Mandeville.
After watching the aftermath of the storm, Dragna is thankful her family evacuated to Tuscaloosa before the storm hit.
While some individuals underestimated the severity of the storm and waited too long to leave, her family left long before the storm ever touched land. Dragna’s uncle, a meteorologist, warned her family to evacuate as soon as possible days prior to Ida’s reign of terror.
“It is hard to know that your family is dealing with the aftermath while you are so far away that you cannot do anything about it,” Dragna stated as she expressed concern for her family’s return to Louisiana.
While the Covington-Mandeville area has a long recovery process ahead – with the lack of power and drinking water – Dragna’s family is fortunate to make it out with no structural house damage.
“Our neighbors stayed during the storm,” Dragna said. “They would have called and told us if our house took on any serious damage.”
As the tides subside and the sky clears, the sun reveals the magnitude of the damage left behind. Cities like Grand Isle, New Orleans and Houma are ravaged.
Hurricane Ida left a trail of tragedy in her wake, leaving thousands without drinkable water, food, power or gas. Experts estimate a three week to three month recovery period for parishes hit the hardest.
As the natives of Louisiana pick up the remnants of the storm, they are left with the dread and anxiety of trying to figure out how to start over once again.
