NEW ORLEANS — We're going to be updating Hurricane Ida recovery information all day on WWL-TV. We have crews headed out to all areas affected by the storm. However, there is still limited ability to transmit live out of the hardest-hit areas due to a lack of cell towers. We will have information from all of those areas though.
Bookmark this page and check back often for the latest info.
Updates below image.
1:40 PM In New Orleans, tarps, diapers and MREs are being distributed at 1111 Newton Street from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
1:30 PM WWL-TV is tracking what businesses are open to customers across Southeast Louisiana. We're using the hashtag #OpenNola, so if you know a business that's open and not on our list, let us know by using that hashtag.
1 PM Residents in LaPlace, one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Ida, are beginning the long process of clearing out their homes of belongings damaged during the storm.
President Joe Biden included LaPlace on his tour Friday of the areas hardest hit by Ida in southeast Louisiana.
One family referred to the area as “Lake LaPlace” due to the waist-deep floodwaters and smell from backed up sewage that had reached some homes. “This whole area is basically the swamp,” one resident said.
Read more about the scene on the ground in LaPlace here:
12:35 PM All hospitals in New Orleans now have electricity again, as Entergy makes further gains in restoring power to the city.
12:15 PM All 21st Judicial District Courts in Livingston, St. Helena and Tangipahoa parishes will be closed until at least Monday, Sept. 13.
11:45 AM: Entergy says just over a quarter of New Orleans has lights back on as of 10:30 a.m. About 27% of the city is back on the grid – approximately 55,000 customers. Around 150,000 are still in the dark.
11:35 AM St. Tammany Parish president Mike Cooper says debris cleanup is starting in the parish today. It's unclear how long it will take.
11:30 AM Starting at noon, free hot meals will be available to St. Bernard Residents at the Arabi Community Center.
The center is located at 7143 St. Claude Ave., Arabi.
11 AM Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joe Lopinto says an arrest has been made in the murder of a Metairie man at a gas station, allegedly over line cutting.
The 20-year-old suspect is being charged with second-degree murder and is being held on a $500,000 bond.
He reportedly turned himself in to the JPSO Friday night. Lopinto says his story, that he acted in self-defense, does not appear to line up with witness testimony from the scene.
10:45 AM A POD site will open in St. Bernard Parish from noon to 6 p.m. in the parking lot of the Tractor Supply in Meraux, distributing water, ice and MREs.
The POD will be open starting Sunday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day until further notice.
The Tractor Supply Parking Lot is located at 2505 Archbishop Philip M Hannan Blvd, Meraux, LA 70075
10:25 AM LDH confirms that two more nursing home patients who were housed at a warehouse in deplorable conditions have died, bringing the death toll to six. Four of those deaths have now been classified as storm-related.
10 more residents have been hospitalized and more than 800 were rescued from the warehouse in Independence.
10:20 AM The Salvation Army will be operating mobile feeding stations starting at noon throughout the metro New Orleans area. Here are the locations:
*Boutee Walmart - 13001 HWY 90, Boutee, LA 70039
*House of Joy - 1510 Lindsburg Dr. SlidelL
*United Saints Recovery Projects - 2309 Dryades Street, New Orleans, LA
*State Farm Parking Lot - 1109 N Causeway Blvd., Metairie, LA 70001
*Winn Dixie - 2104 Williams Blvd, Kenner, LA 70062
*Gentilly Area/Dillard Area - Gentilly Area/Dillard Area | Roaming
*Freret & Washington Intersection - New Orleans
*Westwego, LA - Roaming
10:05 AM Six of the eight transmission lines coming into New Orleans are back online, Entergy reports. Additionally, all 27 substations in the city are back on.
Entergy is now moving to the distribution side, restoring the damaged infrastructure that actually moves power directly to people's homes.
9:55 AM Entergy says Hurricane Ida damaged more power poles than Katrina, Zeta and Laura combined.
Some of the worst-hit areas may not receive power until the end of September, including Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes.
9:50 AM New Orleans Catholic Schools say they are set to re-open on Sept. 13, about two weeks after Hurricane Ida forced schools across Southeast Louisiana closed.
By that point, most if not all of New Orleans is expected to have power back.
9:40 AM Starting today, city of New Orleans officials have readied a plan to bus people from the city to shelters in Northern Louisiana or a neighboring state.
Here's how to get on one of the free buses:
9:20 AM The Blue Roof Program provides free tarps to homeowners with storm damage in parishes hit by Hurricane Ida.
The Parishes that have been identified for the program include: Ascension, Jefferson, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, and St. Helena Parish.
8:50 AM Cleco says they've restored power to 73% of St. Tammany Parish customers and 47% of Washington Parish customers.
8:30 AM in St. Bernard Parish, disaster boxes full of food and water will be distributed to residents at the Frederick Sigur Civic Center in Chalmette starting at 11 a.m.
There are 1,500 boxes available, and a one-per-car limit. Distribution will continue until all the boxes are gone.
8:20 AM The U.S. Coast Guard has reopened the lower Mississippi River to all water traffic after it was closed because of Hurricane Ida.
After the successful removal of several power lines obstructing the waterway due to a downed transmission tower near mile marker 106.5 and a survey of the ship channel in key areas of concern, the waterway has been deemed open for all marine traffic.
7:50 AM The mandatory evacuation order for St. Charles parish has been rescinded, meaning residents can return to their homes to see the damage and begin rebuilding.
Residents there should bring enough supplies for a week, including water, food, ice and fuel.
Power restoration is expected to take four to six weeks.
7:45 AM In St. Charles Parish, distribution Sites will open at 8 a.m. at the West Bank Bridge Park & Jerusalem Shrine Center with MREs, water, ice & tarps.
7:30 AM Amidst the recovery efforts for Hurricane Ida, FEMA has announced a policy change that may help many people of color with generational ties to the region.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced yesterday they would stop requiring disaster survivors living on inherited land to prove they own their homes before receiving federal aid to rebuild.
The policy disproportionately hurt Black homeowners in the south, many of whom have had land in their families since a generation after slavery.
7:15 AM The Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office posted on Twitter, reminiscing about last year when they were in Lake Charles after Hurricane Laura wrecked the area. Now, a year later, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office is returning the favor.
"As Coach Ed. Orgeron would say: 'One team. One Heartbeat,'" the tweet read.
7 AM St. John Parish residents are sleeping in their cars amid mounts of trash and debris piled on the curbside. They lack electricity and running water, and Entergy
6:35 AM Some homes in Algiers have reported getting power back ahead of their estimated Sept. 8 restoration date. The news bodes well for the rest of the metro area, where huge numbers of Entergy crews are stationed at night when they must leave other parishes to rest and refuel.
6:30 AM Entergy has released a full list of estimated restoration times for all parishes impacted by Hurricane Ida, including the hardest-hit areas such as Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes.
They have also release a neighborhood-level map for areas in New Orleans. A similar map for Jefferson Parish is expected today.
6:15 AM WWL-TV has continued to receive messages from the family members of nursing home residents "rescued" from a warehouse in Independence who have not had contact with their loved ones.
For more about the situation, click here:
5:45 AM Neyows Creole Cafe reports that one of their longtime hosts has died from carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator.
If you are running a generator at your house, keep it at least 15 feet away from any windows, doors, vents or other places where fumes could get into the house.
On Instagram, the cafe posted a tribute to Ms. Dee, saying "You will always be in our hearts."
Older Updates
9:50 PM Entergy released estimates for when the power will come back in Louisiana's hardest hit parishes. Get the full list here.
9:30 PM Cavan on magazine Street is closing for good. The staff was just informed that the building took substantial damage from Ida and the restaurant was already struggling due to COVID-19.
9:15 PM Crews detonated parts of a tower in Harahan to free the massive wires from it. Those wires have been blocking the Mississippi River since Hurricane Ida struck. They will now be able to clear the river.
8:30 PM New Orleans' Central City Library and Keller Library will reopen Saturday with Wi-fi, computers and charging access. The Central City library will be open from 9am-5pm and the Keller Library will be open from 11am-5pm
8 PM Second Harvest Food Bank will do drive-thru food distribution at Lefreniere Park on Saturday, Sept. 4 at 8 AM until supplies run out.
For our liveblog from Friday, click here:
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