LOUISIANA, USA — Hurricane Ida made landfall in southeast Louisiana on Sunday as a Category 4 hurricane, bringing ashore sustained winds of 150 mph. Ida made landfall exactly 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina.
Now, as search and rescue teams continue their efforts, a Round Rock firefighter is in Louisiana to help.
The City of Round Rock said that Battalion Chief Gunther von Seltmann departed Sunday morning with the Texas State Task Force 1 (TX-TF1), along with other personnel and a large cache of specialized and technical equipment to help first responders in the areas impacted by the storm.
According to the City, TX-TF1 functions as one of the 28 federal teams under FEMA’s National Urban Search and Rescue System. TX-TF1 is logistically self-sufficient for the first 72 hours of operation to avoid placing a burden on local responding agencies.
The Associated Press reports that Ida weakened into a tropical storm overnight Sunday into Monday as it pushed inland over Mississippi.
All of New Orleans lost power around sunset Sunday, and the storm has been blamed for at least one death – a person hit by a falling tree outside Baton Rouge. The full extent of Ida's damage is still coming into focus.
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