Three days after Hurricane Ida blew through Louisiana, high floodwaters are still causing serious issues to recovery efforts in areas closest to the coastline.
Satellite images taken by Maxar on Tuesday shows just how extensive damage is over the Gulf Coast and southern Louisiana. The images are focused on the hard-hit small coastal towns that local officials say received the worst of the storm.
Images show full neighborhoods, where green yards and roads were before the storm, now submerged under water. In other areas, rooves of homes and yards are covered in debris post-Ida.
Fast moving floodwaters during the hurricane had many residents fleeing to attics and roofs in their home. As of Tuesday, rescues were still being made with Louisiana's National Guard reporting that personnel have rescued 359 citizens and 55 pets either by high-water vehicles, by boats or by air during the aftermath from Hurricane Ida.
In coastal areas, particularly in Jefferson Parish, which includes the small towns of Jean Lafitte, Barataria, and lower Lafitte, floodwaters have taken over entire roads, bridges, and neighborhoods.
Jean Lafitte Mayor Tim Kerner said the town suffered "catastrophic" flooding Sunday following Hurricane Ida. The town is about 20 miles south of New Orleans.
"We've suffered flooding before, we've suffered storms before," Kerner was quoted saying. "But I've never seen water like this in my life, and it just hit us in the worst way possible."
Kerner told Weather.com that the local levee was overpowered by Ida's floodwaters.
About 90% of homes in the small town have "serious damage."
The concentration is still on search and rescue in Lafitte, Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng said Tuesday. At least 15 people were rescued on Tuesday, she said.
Jefferson Parish was hit by Hurricane Ida's winds that reached up to 70 mph and floodwater that reportedly reached between 10 to 12 feet, according to New Orleans Public Radio.
Because the water system parish-wide is still being repaired, Lee Sheng said residents must limit how much wastewater goes down the drain for now. Citizens must also conserve water and remember the area remains under a boil water advisory.
If residents that evacuated don't need to return, local officials are asking they stay away for the the time being.
Though floodwaters in Lafitte have gone down significantly, it still presents a major issue, Lee Sheng said during a press conference.
She reminded residents to stay optimistic, "We are battered but we will not be broken."
In LaPlace, in St. John the Baptist Parish, along the east of the Mississippi River, homes and businesses were torn from their foundations and left without roofs.
According to Gov. John Bel Edwards as of Monday about 80% of all the rescues done Monday were carried out in St. John the Baptist Parish.
Residents there faced brutal winds and heavy rainfall. Emergency service communications are still extremely limited and more than 18,300 residents are without power, according to the parish.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
