Climate Adaptation

As Ida Bears Down, New Orleans Faces Biggest Post-Katrina Test

  • Hurricane set to slam city’s rebuilt defenses, neighborhoods
  • Ida to strike as Louisiana hospitals grapple with Covid surge
Workers close the floodgate at Bonnabel Boat Launch on Lake Pontchartrain ahead of Hurricane Ida in Metairie, Louisiana, on Aug. 28.Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
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New Orleans braced Sunday for a long-dreaded test of whether levees, hospitals and entire neighborhoods rebuilt following Hurricane Katrina’s devastation 16 years ago would survive another major storm.

Hurricane IdaBloomberg Terminal was about 145 miles (233 kilometers) from the Louisiana coast, crossing the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 4 cyclone and gathering strength before a landfall forecast for Sunday afternoon. Its wind roared at 150 miles per hour.