Parts of Louisiana’s Lafourche Parish are without water after a main line break

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards told CNN Sunday night that Hurricane Ida is lashing his state and will continue to cause damage through the night.

Edwards said that he’s aware of calls for help — especially in Jefferson Parish where a mandatory evacuation was issued Thursday — but conditions will not allow for emergency crews to respond yet.

“At the height of a hurricane you can’t get first responders out because it’s just simply too dangerous. The wind speeds don’t allow for that,” he explained. “Just as soon as we can, we will be engaged in very robust search and rescue operations.”

There are 21 urban search and rescue teams from about 15 states ready to search when the storm calms, Edwards said. 

But he warned that the storm is far from over, noting that it hasn’t reach I-10 yet and the expected wind and rain, which could be 20 to 24 inches in those areas, is likely to cause further damage in the state.

“Nobody is out of the woods in southeast Louisiana yet. We’ll be dealing with this until sometime after midnight,” Edwards said, adding that the full extent of damage won’t be known until the sun comes up.