Hurricane Ida made landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana at on Sunday, August 29, the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Officials said Ida's swift intensification to a massive hurricane in just three days left no time to organize a mandatory evacuation of the hundreds of thousands of residents in Ida’s destructive path, destroying buildings and inundating roadways.
Over one million homes remain without electrical power including all of New Orleans. In many parishes it is predicted that power will not be restored for the next two weeks or longer. Additionally, the storm closed down nine parish public school districts, postponing learning indefinitely for approximately 97,000 students. As of August 30, the official death toll stands at 2 with government officials expecting it to rise significantly as search and rescue operations continue.
Communities are left devastated by the hurricane are beginning the process of recovering and rebuilding from this disaster amid a surge of COVID-19 infections. 2,450 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Saturday in Louisiana, a number higher than at any point during the pandemic.
UNICEF USA is leveraging relationships with partners on the ground to provide access to technical expertise, resources, child protection, and assistance for children and families who are in urgent need of humanitarian support.
With your support, UNICEF USA can continue to help children threatened by trauma, hunger, disease, and the crumbling infrastructure around them.
