Hurricane Ida blows away Katrina’s statistics; Mass destruction, records set for Ida.

Hurricane Ida hit land 16 year anniversary to the day of hurricane Katrina hitting landfall according to CNN. Katrina was the worst recorded hurricane.

     Ida shaped up to have similar features “in terms of their date, strength, location, and their destructive impact on the region’s power grid and water systems. But the major hurricanes also have clear differences in their paths,” says CNN.

     Ida came in with winds of 150 miles per hour. These were tied with Laura’s wind speeds from just last year. Prior to this storm, there were no winds at this recorded speed since 1856 according to CNN. 

     This is the first set of three record wind speed hurricanes to make landfall in a row. That sets them in a new record with only having two in prior centuries. 

     Hurricane Ida’s RI (rapid intensification) was something that set it apart from others. The RI is determined by the amount of air pressure that rises in millibars per hour. If the pressure strengthens 24 millibars in 24 hours, then it’s considered a high RI. Ida completed that goal. The hurricane exceeded and reached up to 56 millibars from 36 millibars at the time of  landfall according to CNN.

     “Ida came onshore with a central pressure of 930 millibars. For Louisiana, Ida had the second-lowest pressure for a landfalling hurricane in that state. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was the only storm to have lower central pressure. Katrina came ashore with a central pressure of 920 mb,” says The Denver Post.

    Because of the storm’s rapid intensity and force, it remained strong for many hours more than the average hurricane. 

     Katrina spent more time moving around at sea and still came in strong, while Ida came in more direct. They both landed in Louisiana, however, Ida traveled further upward across the country.

     North Harford student Grace Herron speaks on how her family up north was affected by the disaster. “My cousins and grandparents live in New York in Cold Springs Harbor and Mineola. They had power outages, flooding, and strong winds. They did not have much damage occur but they did prepare. They bought generators and extra food.” Herron adds that they are recovering fine. Power was knocked out all over the east coast as the storm surge 

     Ida is suspected to have caused 18 billion dollars in damage, Katrina caused 81 billion dollars. Ida took at least 82 people’s lives according to Fox 13. Katrina had more deaths, taking more than 1,800 lives from flooding, power issues, and lack of resources.