By Camille Cox | Staff Writer
After ripping through Louisiana, Hurricane Ida was declared a tropical depression and headed northeast. The rippling effects of the hurricane stunned the East Coast with flash flooding, record-breaking rain and tornado damage.
At least 46 people were left dead from Maryland to Connecticut. The storm drowned civilians, caused trees to fall and flooded dozens of basements as northeasterners took shelter there during the heavy rain.
Buffalo, N.Y., sophomore Madeline Olsen felt the emotions of seeing her home state be hit by the unexpected storm.
“It definitely is traumatic and scary because hurricanes usually don’t hit us up north,” Olsen said. “We usually worry about snow and blizzards and ice, and the fact that hurricanes are now hitting the north too is kind of crazy and scary — that there can be all sorts of natural disasters there.”
While the storm caused devastation all across the country, Louisiana felt its initial impact. According to the Associated Press, power has been restored to thousands, and they will continue to work on restoring power in the coming days.
According to the City of New Orleans, NOLA public schools are set to reopen between Sept. 15 and 22, with the city slowly returning to normalcy after assessing and responding to the damages. While many roads remain closed throughout the state, residents can report downed power lines or trees to first responders on their website to speed up the process.
Plano sophomore Grayson Arcemont also felt the effects of the hurricane through her family’s experience.
“Right before Ida hit, my dad went down to grab both of my grandparents from their homes in Louisiana,” Arcemont said. “One of my grandparents lives in Morgan City and the other in New Orleans. They stayed at my house for about two weeks.”
Families in situations similar to Arcemont’s expected more damages to their homes after the storm hit.
“My grandma just got back to her house in NOLA and saw the damage to her home,” Arcemont said. “She had trees fallen down, roof damages and fences broken, but it is not as bad as they expected.”
Arcemont’s family members got power back in the last couple of days. While families similar to hers did face exponential damages, the levee system in New Orleans prevented a much larger disaster from happening there, NPR said.
Baylor students can help those impacted by Hurricane Ida by donating needed items to Baylor Missions or by volunteering to assemble kits for those impacted on Sept. 28 at the Bobo Spiritual Life Center.
