Almost 800 rescued in St. John the Baptist Parish after Hurricane Ida

At least three people have died as a result of the storm.

ByJulia Jacobo, Emily Shapiro, Ivan Pereira, Morgan Winsor, and Bill Hutchinson
Last Updated: August 31, 2021, 8:36 AM EDT

Ida is barreling through Louisiana after making landfall in the state as a powerful Category 4 hurricane on Sunday afternoon.

It was one of the strongest hurricanes on record -- by both wind speed and pressure -- to roar ashore in Louisiana.

Ida, now a tropical storm, is hitting on the 16-year anniversary of Katrina, a Category 3 hurricane that ravaged the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina unleashed a series of events, taking the lives of more than 1,800 people and leaving more than $100 billion worth of damage in its wake.

Latest headlines:

Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern.
Aug 30, 2021, 10:13 PM EDT

Almost 800 rescued in St. John the Baptist Parish

Officials with St. John the Baptist Parish held a press conference Monday night, saying “almost 800 people” have been rescued after extreme flooding due to Hurricane Ida.

“This is one of the worst natural disasters I've ever seen in St. John,” Parish President Jaclyn Hotard said.

Remarkably, Hotard said there have been no reported fatalities in the parish from the storm.

“All of the missions were successful,” Hotard said. “Every call that came in for someone to be rescued out of their home, they have been rescued out of their home.”

The hard-hit town of Laplace is in St John the Baptist Parish.

-ABC News' Matt Foster

Aug 30, 2021, 8:55 PM EDT

Tulane cancels in-person learning until October, sets up Houston hub for students

Tulane University announced Monday night that it would cancel all in-person classes until Oct. 6.

The campus is closed and all classes will be canceled until Sept. 13, the university tweeted. The semester began last week.

The greens on St. Charles Avenue in front of Gibson Hall at Tulane University in New Orleans, April 18, 2008.
Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images

The school is establishing a hub in Houston to provide food and lodging at Tulane’s expense for students until they can get flights home.

"Beginning tomorrow at 10AM, we will evacuate all remaining students (undergraduate & graduate; in-residence & off-campus) to Houston via bus," the school tweeted.

Emergency funds will also be available for students, according to Tulane.

Aug 30, 2021, 8:18 PM EDT

3rd storm-related death confirmed

Deano Bonano, a councilman for District 2 in Jefferson Parish, told ABC News that there has been one confirmed fatality in his parish from Hurricane Ida.

Details about the death and the identity of the victim weren't immediately available.

-ABC News' Darren Reynolds

Aug 30, 2021, 8:08 PM EDT

20,000 workers out assessing damage, restoring power

An anticipated storm team of more than 20,000 and growing has begun assessing Ida's damage and restoring power, according to Louisiana's utility companies.

Damage assessment could take several days, since many areas are currently inaccessible either by roadways, officials at Entergy Louisiana said Monday afternoon.

While 90% of customers will be restored sooner, customers in the hardest-hit areas should plan for the possibility of experiencing extended power outages, according to Entergy.

"This will be a marathon, not a sprint," Deanna Rodriguez, Entergy New Orleans' president and CEO said in a statement.

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