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Hurricane Ida live updates: first death in Louisiana as New Orleans loses power - The Guardian

Hurricane Ida, one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the US, was so strong it reversed the flow of the Mississippi River on Sunday - an extremely rare occurrence.

“We’ve never seen one like this, it’s the worst storm in our history,” Lafitte Mayor Tim Kerner Jr tells WGNO TV.  A flash flood warning was issued for Lafitte earlier, after a levee was reported to be at risk of failing.

Many residents in LePlace are sharing their names and addresses on social media, asking for urgent assistance.  People are trapped in their attics and on their roof tops.

More than one million customers in Louisiana are without power, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks outages.

The energy company Entergy earlier confirmed that power had been cut off across the entire of New Orleans, describing “catastrophic transmission damage”.  In a statement, Entergy said power will not be restored this evening.