On August 29, Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of up to 150 miles-per-hour. It caused at least 13 deaths in the state and cut off power for thousands of residents. The storm was only the third on record to hit Louisiana with wind speeds that powerful.
“I had no idea how devastating the storm was,” Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng said in a news conference after flying over the debris on Wednesday alongside U.S. Representative Steve Scalise, according to Reuters. “We are a broken community right now.”
About a week after Hurricane Ida’s landfall, the Diocese of Houma-Thibodeaux in Louisiana was still without electricity and struggling to provide fresh water to people.
“We’ve taken a significant blow and we just need some help right now,” Bishop Shelton Fabre of Houma-Thibodeaux said in an interview with Catholic News Agency on September 3. “And we trust that that help will come and that God will provide. So, you go forward and hope.”
36 of the 39 churches in the diocese located in southeastern Louisiana were damaged, with some churches being severely harmed.
Remnants of Hurricane Ida hit Ohio as a tropical depression before the storm moved into the northeastern United States on September 2. At least 50 people were killed in this part of the country, including at least 13 people in New York City alone due to confined basement residences being ill-prepared for flooding.
Sophy Liu, a New York City resident, used towels and garbage bags to prevent the rushing water from drowning her son and herself. After the door became stuck when she decided to flee, two of her friends were called and rescued her.
“I was obviously scared, but I had to be strong for my son,” Liu said in an interview with AP News. “I had to calm him down.”
President Joe Biden spoke to reporters about the storm and its surge in the northeast on September 2, one day before his visit to Louisiana to see the governor of the state.
“There’s lot of damage, and I made clear to the governors that my team at the Federal Emergency Management Agency — FEMA — is on the ground and ready to provide all the assistance that’s needed,” President Biden said. “My message to everyone affected is: We’re all in this together. The nation is here to help.”
In Massachusetts, power outages, tree falls, and significant amounts of rainfall occurred on September 1 and 2. There were over 5 inches of rain reported in New Bedford, Douglas, and Auburn. A tornado also touched down in Cape Cod during Ida’s storm activity.
On Sunday, September 5, Pope Francis prayed for the victims of Hurricane Ida in the United States after his Angelus address.
“I assure you of my prayers for the people of the United States of America hit by a strong hurricane in recent days,” the pope said. “May the Lord welcome the souls of the dead and support those who suffer from this calamity.”
You can donate to the rebuilding efforts of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodeaux here.
Max Montana is a senior studying philosophy and theology. When not writing for The Torch, he enjoys reading more about the Catholic faith and philosophy, serving the unborn and mothers in need, and hanging out with friends. Max is honored to hail from the state with many gators and the bishop of the moon: Florida.
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