Biden Declares Emergency as ‘Potentially Catastrophic’ Hurricane Ida Barrels Toward Louisiana

Mandatory evacuations are now being carried out in Louisiana on Friday as Hurricane Ida is projected to make landfall on Sunday evening along the U.S. Gulf Coast. President Joe Biden on Friday declared a state of emergency in Louisiana and directed the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate disaster relief efforts there. According to a 2 p.m. forecast from the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Ida is currently a Category 1 hurricane and is slated to make landfall in southeastern Louisiana on Sunday at around 8 p.m. local time. Hurricane watches are in effect for most of the Louisiana coastline and all of Mississippi’s coastline, the NHC said. The agency further predicted there will be “steady to rapid strengthening” when Ida moves over the warm southeastern and central Gulf waters over the weekend. The storm is predicted to become a major hurricane, meaning a Category 3 storm …