Ida is now a Category 1 hurricane, and is expected to gain in strength as it crosses the Gulf on a bead for the Louisiana coast. The Governor’s Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness urges residents to get storm preparations done before an expected Sunday landfall. Jeff Palermo has more…:
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New Orleans is bracing for a serious hit from Ida. Mayor Latoya Cantrell has called a voluntary evacuation for areas inside the city’s levee systems. She’s also ordered mandatory evacuations for low-lying areas OUTSIDE the levees.

Hurricane Ida is expected to reach Category 3 strength or perhaps even higher before landfall sometime late Sunday. State Climatologist Barry Keim says all the ingredients are there for rapid escalation once it enters the Gulf later tonight…:

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Keim says there is some hope Ida MAY fizzle out a bit as it approaches the coast, but the atmospheric indicators say just the opposite.
Ida’s effects are expected to be felt in Northern Louisiana after making landfall; bringing heavy rains and tropical storm force winds. Schools and businesses in cities along the I-20 are deciding on possible cancelations for Monday, so listen for more announcements.