Hurricane Ida barreled into the Louisiana coast on Sunday, bringing with it catastrophic levels of flooding and 150 mph winds that tied it for the fifth-strongest hurricane ever to hit the U.S. mainland.
Officials described chest-level floodwaters filling homes. The entire city of New Orleans lost power. Levees were overtopped. Winds scattered power lines. Residents were trapped on rooftops and in attics.
At least one death was reported by Monday morning, but much of the damage remained unaccounted for, and rescue efforts remain underway.
The winds also slowed down on Monday, causing Ida to become a tropical storm as it centered over Mississippi. But dangerous winds and flash floods continue to threaten the region, complicating efforts to save trapped residents and repair electricity grids.
New Orleans Police Detective Alexander Reiter looks over debris from a building that collapsed during Hurricane Ida in New Orleans on Monday. Hurricane Ida knocked out power to all of New Orleans and inundated coastal Louisiana communities on a deadly path through the Gulf Coast that is still unfolding and promises more destruction. (Gerald Herbert/AP)
Notably, Ida smashed into Louisiana on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, striking the same coastline and drawing instant comparisons between the two storms. Katrina caused widespread devastation, with a death toll of over 1,800 and damage topping $175 billion.
But Louisiana has worked to improve its levee system to prevent that level of catastrophe from reoccurring.
"There is no doubt that the coming days and weeks are going to be extremely difficult for our state, and many, many people are going to be tested in ways that we can only imagine today," Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said at a Sunday press conference shortly before the storm made landfall. "But I can also tell you, as a state, we have never been more prepared."
View photos of Ida's impact below. This post will be updated throughout the day.
A man in a wheelchair takes refuge under a bus stop shelter along Canal Street as Category 4 Hurricane Ida arrives on Sunday in New Orleans, La. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
A man takes pictures of high waves along the shore of Lake Pontchartrain as Hurricane Ida nears, on Sunday in New Orleans. (Gerald Herbert/AP)
A man passes by a section of roof that was blown off of a building in the French Quarter by Hurricane Ida winds on Sunday in New Orleans. (Eric Gay/AP)
A woman and child block their faces from the wind and rain produced by Hurricane Ida on Sunday in New Orleans. (Eric Gay/AP)
Trees sway in the wind from Hurricane Ida in downtown New Orleans on Sunday. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Pedestrians on Bourbon Street during a citywide power outage caused by Hurricane Ida in New Orleans on Sunday. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Vehicles are damaged after the front of a building collapsed during Hurricane Ida on Sunday in New Orleans. (IScott Olson/Getty Images)
Firefighters pray together as the hurricane eye wall gets close to the fire station in Bourg, La., on Sunday. (Mark Felix AFP via Getty Images)
Water enters a beach house as Hurricane Ida makes landfall in Grand Isle, La., on Sunday in this still image taken from social media video. (Christie Angelette via Reuters)
The Karofsky shop suffers severe damage after Hurricane Ida pummeled New Orleans with strong winds in Louisiana on Sunday. (Devika Krishna Kumar/Reuters)
Traffic diverts around power poles that hang over a road after Hurricane Ida moved through, on Monday, in Metairie, La. (Steve Helber/AP)
A house in New Orleans, where Chris Atkins and his wife were when the sheet rock came off during Hurricane Ida on Sunday. (Rebecca Santana/AP)
A local resident walks past destruction outside a hotel in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in Houma, La., on Monday. (Adrees Latif/Reuters)
Flooded streets in Kenner, La., on Monday are pictured after Hurricane Ida made landfall the day before. (Marco Bello/Reuters)
New Orleans firefighters assess damage as they look through debris after a building collapsed from the effects of Hurricane Ida in New Orleans. (Eric Gay/AP)
A man and his stepson Saint Rose, La., on Monday. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
A resident views a damaged Shell station in Kenner, La., on Monday. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
A small shop in New Orleans suffers severe damage. (Devika Krishna Kumar/Reuters)
Highway 51 is flooded after Hurricane Ida struck LaPlace. (Mickey Welsh/Montgomery Advertiser/USA TODAY Network via Reuters)
Dartanian Stovall looks at the house that collapsed with him inside during the height of Hurricane Ida, New Orleans. (Michael DeMocker/USA Today Network via Reuters)
A resident walks through floodwater left behind by Hurricane Ida in LaPlace. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Jacob Hodges, right, and his brother Jeremy Hodges clear debris from their storage unit in Houma, which was destroyed by Hurricane Ida. (David J. Phillip/AP)
First responders maneuver through flooded streets in LaPlace. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Rene Hebert salvages what he can from his family's destroyed offices in Houma. (David J. Phillip/AP)
Members of a rescue team help evacuate people in LaPlace. (Marco Bello/Reuters)
Theophilus Charles at his house, heavily damaged by Hurricane Ida, in Houma. (Adrees Latif/Reuters)
Residents in LaPlace are rescued from floodwater. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
A street in LaPlace is flooded after Hurricane Ida made landfall. (Marco Bello/Reuters)
Floodwaters left behind by Hurricane Ida outside a home in LaPlace. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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