Hurricane Ida made landfall as a category four storm in Louisiana and is one of the most harmful hurricanes to hit Louisiana, second only to Hurricane Katrina of 2005. It is the second most costly storm to hit the east coast since Hurricane Sandy. As of September 15, Ida is known to have caused 116 confirmed deaths, catastrophic flooding and multi-state power outages.

     Hurricane Ida is a category four hurricane when it reached Louisiana August 26, and continued until September 4. There have been 34 deaths in Louisiana, 30 in New Jersey, 18 in New York, five in Pennsylvania, three in Mississippi, two in Alabama, two in Maryland, one in Virginia, and one in Connecticut as well as 20 in Venezuela as a result of the flooding.

     The physical damages Ida has caused is an estimated $50 billion when combining the direct damage from the hurricane and consequential flooding. Other economic losses include insurance payouts, small business losses, electricity shortages and more. Hurricane Ida has caused an estimated economic loss of $95 billion according to Joel N. Myers, the founder and chief executive of Accuweather.

     Ida unleashed extreme flash flooding from Louisiana to New York City. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said there was an estimated eight to 10 inches of rain that fell in the matter of hours. Massive flooding overcame New York’s subways and underground infrastructure which is slowly making a return after massive damage repairs.  Louisiana was hit particularly hard with the flooding, however the New Orleans levees survived the storm. Flooding in Louisiana has caused power lines to go down, and thousands are still without power as of current. Across eight states Ida has caused an approximated 1.2 million customers to be without power for some amount of time according to situation reports from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER). 

     This devastating storm has cost dozens of lives and billions of dollars to the U.S as well as Venezuela. In the aftermath of her destruction, people are rallying together to help victims of this disaster. With groups like the Red Cross and project HOPE, communities are rebuilding their lost homes and for the rehabilitation of the people.