Ida's Louisiana death toll rises to 26 with 11 newly reported New Orleans fatalities
Louisiana on Wednesday reported 11 more deaths attributed to Hurricane Ida, nine of them New Orleans residents 64 to 70 who suffered "excessive heat during an extended blackout" after the storm hit. The other two deaths were New Orleans residents killed by carbon monoxide poisoning. New Orleans officials said earlier this week that many elderly people were trapped in residential apartments with no electricity or air conditioning in the sweltering heat.
The 11 new victims died between Aug. 30 and Monday, but the Orleans Parish coroner just confirmed that they were tied to Ida, state officials said. Louisiana's death toll from the hurricane now stands at 26. At least 50 more people died as Ida dumped rain on the East Coast, from Virginia to New England.
Although power is now restored to most of New Orleans, about 342,000 people in the state still have no electricity, gas shortages are common, and 250,000 students in southeastern Louisiana are still unable to return to school.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Will there be peace before Christmas in Ukraine?Today's Big Question Discussions over the weekend could see a unified set of proposals from EU, UK and US to present to Moscow
-
Quiz of The Week: 6 – 12 DecemberQuiz Have you been paying attention to The Week’s news?
-
The week’s best photosIn Pictures A man's best friend, the elephants in the room, and more
-
Death toll from Southeast Asia storms tops 1,000speed read Catastrophic floods and landslides have struck Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia
-
Hurricane Melissa slams Jamaica as Category 5 stormSpeed Read The year’s most powerful storm is also expected to be the strongest ever recorded in Jamaica
-
Icarus programme – the ‘internet of animals’The Explainer Researchers aim to monitor 100,000 animals worldwide with GPS trackers, using data to understand climate change and help predict disasters and pandemics
-
Renewables top coal as Trump seeks reversalSpeed Read For the first time, renewable energy sources generated more power than coal, said a new report
-
China vows first emissions cut, sidelining USSpeed Read The US, the world’s No. 2 emitter, did not attend the New York summit
-
At least 800 dead in Afghanistan earthquakespeed read A magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit a mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan
-
Massive earthquake sends tsunami across PacificSpeed Read Hundreds of thousands of people in Japan and Hawaii were told to evacuate to higher ground
-
FEMA Urban Search and Rescue chief resignsSpeed Read Ken Pagurek has left the organization, citing 'chaos'
