Southeastern communities are reeling from Hurricane Ida after the storm inflicted chaos on power grids and water systems.
More than a million customers were left without power in Louisiana, according to PowerOutage.us, while around 52,000 residents lost power in Mississippi.
Since Ida made landfall Sunday, utility crews have moved in to assess the damage to the city’s power grid, a process that will likely take days, according to power supplier Entergy. Restoring electrical transmission will take “far longer,” the company said in a tweet Monday.
Meanwhile, 18 water systems have gone out, affecting more than 312,000 people, and an additional 14 systems serving 329,000 people were under boil-water advisories, the Associated Press reported. Residents are rushing to find fresh drinking water and ice, as well as non-perishable foods.
Gasoline is also becoming hard to find, as people seek to fill cars or generators. That means regional prices will rise temporarily, the American Automobile Association said.
