Hurricane Ida - August 2021 - PuroClean Home Office

Hurricane Ida began forming as a tropical disturbance off the northern coast of South America, in the Caribbean Sea. It began traveling west, then northwest to the Greater Antilles. While designated as Tropical Depression 9, it brought rainfall to Jamaica on August 26, although it never made official landfall. On August 26, Ida was officially upgraded to tropical storm status. It continued to move northwest, strengthening into a Category 1 hurricane and making its first official landfall in western Cuba on August 27. As Ida continued to churn in the Gulf of Mexico, it rapidly gained strength until it reached Category 4 status. As a major hurricane, Ida made landfall over Louisiana, heading north over Mississippi and turning to the northeast over the United States mainland.

Hurricane Ida began as a tropical disturbance in the Caribbean Sea monitored by the National Hurricane Center on August 23. By August 29, Ida had strengthened all the way to a major category 4 Hurricane, reaching a maximum sustained wind speed of 150 mph. Ida made landfall with the United States on August 29 over Port Fourchon, Louisiana. On August 30, it was officially downgraded to a tropical storm without the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico to sustain its strength.

Ida made landfall as a major category 4 hurricane. As Ida neared the Louisiana coast, it strengthened to its peak intensity with 1-minute sustained wind speeds of 150 mph, merely 7 mph short of reaching category 5 status. The barometric pressure at this time was 929 mbar (27.43 inHg).

Hurricane Ida is tied for the 2nd strongest storm to ever hit Louisiana on record, behind Hurricane Katrina in 2004, and tied with Hurricane Laura in 2020 and the 1856 Last Island Hurricane. Louisiana and Mississippi both felt the most potent effects of the storm, canceling schools and evacuating residents into shelters. Heavy rainfall brought along flash floods, property damage, and power outages. Sixteen hours after making landfall, Ida was downgraded to a tropical storm, although heavy rain continues as it proceeds across the United States.

As Ida weakened, it continued northeast across the United States, bringing flash flooding and tornadoes to New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia. The Schuylkill River rose 12 feet in only 8 hours between September 1 and September 2. Floodwaters infiltrated the New York City Subway System and saturated roads throughout the city. The daily rainfall record for Central Park, originally set in 1927, was broken. Hoboken, NJ, received 6.5 inches of rain in the same 8-hour span.