Hurricane closes in on US gulf coast

Hurricane Ida, the first Atlantic hurricane to target the US this year, is closing in on the country’s south east, with Louisiana’s Governor Bobby Jindal having already declared a state of emergency.

A hurricane warning extended more than 320kms of coastline from Pascagoula, Mississippi, east to Indian Pass, Florida.

Tropical storm warnings and hurricane watches are in effect across areas of south-eastern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and northern Florida. The area includes New Orleans, which is still recuperating from Hurricane Katrina four years ago.

Authorities said Ida, which has 167 kmph winds, could make landfall as early as tomorrow morning, although it was forecast to weaken by then.

Officials and residents are keeping a close eye on the Category 2 hurricane, though there are no immediate plans for evacuations.

Last night, Ida was 645 kms south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and moving north-north-west. The latest forecast from the US’s National Hurricane Centre shows Ida brushing near Louisiana and Mississippi, then making landfall near Alabama before continuing across north Florida.

In Florida, residents of Pensacola Beach and nearby Perdido Key were encouraged to leave and school was cancelled in the area today and tomorrow.

Nearly 1,400 Louisiana residents are still living in federally issued trailers and mobile homes after hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005; nearly 360 units remained in Mississippi. Authorities advised them to take shelter elsewhere.

There have been nine named storms this season, which ends on December 1. Ida is only the third hurricane to form, and the other two did not threaten land.