Ida aims to hit Louisiana on Hurricane Katrina anniversary

By KEVIN McGILL and JANET McCONNAUGHEY
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has ordered a mandatory evacuation for a small area of the city outside the levee system. But with Hurricane Ida intensifying so much over a short time, she said it wasn’t possible to do so for the entire city. Forecasters say Ida could grow to an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm with top winds of 140 mph when it nears the U.S. coast late Sunday. The National Hurricane Center says Ida already has top winds of 80 mph and should rapidly intensify as it speeds across warm Gulf waters and slams into Louisiana. Gov. John Bel Edwards has declared an emergency for all of Louisiana.