>> eric: hurricane ida slamming the southeast gulf coast making a second landfall in louisiana, just as within the last hour. all this on what this is the 16th anniversary of the devastating hurricane katrina's landfall. hello everyone. welcome to fox news live here on the fox news channel. i'm eric shawn. >> arthel: hello everyone i'm arthel neville. president biden minutes ago calling the storm devastating and life threatening and pledging the full resources and support of the federal government to help states impacted by the storm.

louisiana governor edwards also last hour with an update on the situation in his state. >> we have a very dangerous situation on our hands, with hurricane ida, and we can expect devastating impacts to continue for most of the next 24 hours or so, as the hurricane passes through the state. i can tell you right now, we do not anticipate any overtopping of the mississippi river levees or overtopping of the levees in the hurricane-risk reduction system around the greater new orleans area. >> arthel: that is good news for sure. look at these images. we have fox team coverage of this massive storm. meteorologist adam klotz is live in the fox weather center with the latest, but we're going to go to mike tobin which is fighting and bracing the winds there. i think you are on canal street, the edge of the french quarter. mike, take it away. >> well, i am on canal street. you can see we are certainly getting buffeted by some

significant wind shear. the one thing is that we're not really at the worst of it yet. as i look at the barometer that i carry around with me, we're not quite down into the low pressure areas of hurricane strength. so that means that the worst is still yet to come. there is some wind damage that we've seen around this area so far. i can show you live pictures of what is -- what looks to be a membrane that came off a flat roof. if you have ever done roofing or had to work with that, that soft kind of membrane that's on the top of the -- of a building, that just peeled off, and the ub fortunate thing for the people -- and the unfortunate thing for the people who own that building means there's nothing to stop the water from coming in. there's plenty of water coming in. it may be hard to see with your images because it is all horizontal right now. but it's anticipated to be as much as 15 to 20 inches, and that means about 3 inches per hour coming into new orleans. and arthel, something you know

very well, new orleans is built like a bowl, or it's i guess the topography is like a bowl, and they rely on the pumps to get the water out of new orleans when it comes in by the rain. they've got some pumps that are working. you may have read reports that three pumps were not working. but that still meant that 96 pumps were working, and there's information that the additional three were working. the problem with it is the volume they can handle is a little less than an inch at an hour. they are looking to get 3 inches per hour. so flooding is almost inevitable here in the crescent city. we've got some wind damage already. and the rain is significant. what they have a lot of confidence in right now is the levee system. there's a big gust. -- confidence in the levee system because some 14 billion dollars have been invested in it over the last 16 years, since katrina came through. they built redundancies into that system, and they believe as the water comes into new

orleans, it's going to be the rain, and it is not going to be watt their is driven -- water that's driven in by the storm surge, with that confidence in the levee system. lots of power outages. we're talking about upwards of 200,000 so far, and one of the things that i see here in new orleans that's a bit surprising to me is the bucket trucks. it's going to be tough to get the shot right now given our camera position here on canal street. the bucket trucks are already here. usually what you see with a hurricane is they back up outside of harm's way, and then when the storm is over, they come in. as you look down canal street, one of the things you can see in addition to those trucks is that these palm trees are really taking a beating. there's a lot of water in the soil, and when you see the trees that tip over, ultimately what you see happen is the ground gets softened for hours and hours with the rain coming in, and then as the rain continues to -- or the wind, i should say,

comes to beat on the trees the way they do, ultimately that tips it over. what you might be noticing, the way the gusts are hitting me right now, it is not like a wind tunnel. you don't get smooth wind. you get battered by the wind, then it backs off for a little bit. then you get battered again a little bit later. if you are ever done something like removing a fencepost, you don't just apply solid pressure to it. you rock it back and forth. so when you start talking about trees that will get knocked over, debris that will get knocked loose, the wind works on it, back and forth and back and forth, and that's when you have the significant property damage. certainly when you are talking about the trees that get knocked over, that's when you talk about the extent of power outages. we're already seeing that arthel. one of the things i can tell you, as bad as it looks right now, it is expected to get worse. >> arthel: yeah, mike, you are talking about that -- yeah, mike, you are talking about that rocking back and forth of the trees. over your left shoulder, on the other side of the street on the sidewalk there, there's a palm tree that's swaying pretty

heavily. i want you to be careful of that, first of all. >> thank you. >> arthel: yeah. you are not a small guy. you are a strong guy being blown around by that wind. i want to know do you have a safe place to go in between these live shots because people are concerned about that? >> exactly. we've built our plan here with a retreat in mind. we're not out in it. we're close to the hotel, so we have a place to go and retreat. that brings up a point, something we heard from the mayor here of the new orleans, for people who didn't make a decision about whether they were going to evacuate, that decision has been made for you. the storm is here. it's no longer safe to be on the roads. so if you were going to go somewhere to retreat, you can't anymore. you've got to now found a safe place, whether your house, stay towards the center of your house. get away from the windows and ride out the storm. we will see how this looks tomorrow. >> arthel: yes, all right, mike, get to safety. thank you very much for that extraordinary report there, on

canal street in new orleans. eric, you know, that right there, we're going to release mike, and eric, i wanted to talk to you for a second, if i could, and this is what everybody at home, it kind of hit them at the last minute, you know, sort of like people who are normally going to stay are staying. you had people up until yesterday, which is saturday, last minute, should we go or stay? and my mom and my uncle finally left around 3:30 yesterday afternoon, which is saturday. they made it to houston, houston, texas 17 hours later. >> eric: wow. >> arthel: it normally takes five hours from new orleans to houston. suddenly there's a collective feeling where people are calling everybody. at first, no, i'm going to go stay or go uptown. it is high ground up there. finally everybody said you know what? something is not feeling right. we have to get out of here.

>> eric: we just saw vividly. it isn't even there the strongest. you can see how strong canal street, the wind and the stinging rain in mike's face. just astounding for a strapping guy like that to be able to stand up, let alone other people. i know your mom, she's ridden out hurricanes before. they know this is serious. that's that debate that goes through a lot of people's minds. >> arthel: my mom, yes, she normally leaves when there's something serious. but a lot of people -- you don't judge people. i know people watching go why would you stay for a hurricane? that's an interesting question, and there's so many individual answers as to why people would stay. i know, for instance, i have a friend i was texting with earlier, his parents are in their 80s and they're staying. number one, he said look, my dad, he said he can't take the highway anymore. he's in his 80s. he can't take it anymore. you know, and so there are personal reasons. i do have family still at home in new orleans riding out the storm. some are in hotels, and some are at home with generators. you know, it is not just about

me. it is about my fellow new orleans friends and fellow louisianans, in mississippi, alabama as well, in the path of ida, it's a time that we as americans need to come together and realize that so many forces that can work against us as a collective us, so we should stop fighting with each other and come together to fight against things that are working against us. that's all i want to say. >> eric: we're all in this together. we need to stay safe. if you are home, shelter in place. don't take any chances. don't go out like you saw our brave mike do. adam klotz is here, weather meteorologist with the very latest on the storm and where it is going next. what do we expect? it had two landfalls, adam? >> adam: yeah, well, one landfall. we have some barrier islands that set up kind of along the louisiana coast, so that initial land out out on one of those barrier islands. now more of a landfall that will stick. we will be over land which will allow this to weaken.

i want to point out a few things. center of circulation, new orleans, all the way up here to the north and to the east. mike tobin was still a ways away from this and was feeling the wind and heavy rain from some of the outer bands. if you get closer to the center of circulation, that's going to be a lot stronger winds. this is a very powerful storm. we saw that's what was able to do to him. we ran on the land at 16 miles-per-hour initially, but now down to 11 miles-an-hour. as the storm slows down, if you are dealing with wind, you will have to deal with it longer. if you are dealing with rain, it is going to be there longer. we are starting to see some winds begin to back down, initial landfall at 150 miles-an-hour, now 140 miles-an-hour, not a real big slowdown just yet. this is a massive storm. even if you aren't right where i was pointing, that center, you are probably feeling the effects of this for a great range. everything highlighted in the red, this is a tornado watch, which means the ingredients for tornadoes are in place. we've seen a couple of little isolated tornadoes already spin up here in the last couple of

hours. it includes all the way over to the florida panhandle, so a large area where you are going to be seeing very heavy rain, with those winds, maybe some isolated tornadoes. obviously the strongest winds are going to be towards the center of this storm. 62 miles-an-hour was a recent gust there in new orleans. i do think those numbers are going to continue to climb, continue to intensify as the system lifts up to the north. you don't typically see such strong winds lift so far, but this was such a big powerful storm, it is going to take a lot longer for this to weaken. these are future forecasted winds. this is now taking at 5:00 p.m., and winds perhaps getting up near 90 miles-an-hour for gusts in the new orleans area. you're seeing that really across portions of louisiana. you continue to track this, and unfortunately it just lingers here for a little while. those very strong winds. wind field of at least a tropical storm. look how large of an area that is. much of louisiana getting up into mississippi, portions of alabama, are going to be kind of tracking with this. that goes all the way through tonight until tomorrow at lunch

time, beginning to weaken then, but that's a really long time. i will leave you with our forecast track here. that's now taking you into tomorrow, and we're still looking, late tonight into early tomorrow, still probably a hurricane at that point, as this just moves very slowly up across this area. guys, we've been saying this kind of over and over again, eric, new is not one of those things -- but this is not one of those things that hits the coast and is done. we be paying close attention to this i think at least the next 24 hours. >> eric: in terms of katrina, the waters, the flooding, so much devastation after. are the winds stronger with ida? >> adam: i think rain is going to be an issue even more so than with katrina. >> arthel: the hurricane is slamming louisiana. hospitals there are already near

capacity, treating covid patients and unable to evacuate them. the states department of health says more than 2600 covid patients are currently hospitalized. 479 of them are on ventilators. for more on this, we're going to bring in a physician in chief and chief academic officer at the children's hospital in new orleans. doctor, first of all, are you housing any of those covid patients who are in need of ventilators? >> we are. we're here at the children's hospital. as of today, we have about a dozen children with covid admitted to the hospital, and five of those are in our intensive care unit. >> arthel: so what are the conditions like at the hospital now? i mean, how stretched is your staff and your resources? i'm not trying to paint a picture of chaos, because i know you have been through this many times, and you're usually prepared, but again, we're dealing with multiple crises at the same time. >> right. well, you know, we stay in sort of a state of preparedness all

along the gulf coast for this kind of event. but we've been intensively preparing for it for the last several days, and so we were able to discharge some patients home and vacate some beds. we have good bed capacity. we brought in staff early this morning. they're all locked down here in the building as of 7:00 a.m., we literally locked the doors, and no one comes in or leaves, and so we have our patients. many of the children have their parents with them. and we have doctors and nurses and other health professionals, and we're good to go within the four walls of this building. so no matter how chaotic it gets outside, an can see out the window, that things are pretty rough out there, inside the building, we continue to provide care, like it's any other day. >> arthel: that's very good to hear. tell me this, you did mention the children, unfortunately,

with covid, they're on ventilators. how do covid protocols impact what you are doing there? you know, what would normally be your preparation for such a hurricane emergency? >> well, the patients are demanding. they require certainly special isolation precautions and an intensity of care that is unusual for other children in a children's hospital, and so it does monopolize a lot of the time of the staff, and so it puts a burden on the facility and on the staff that is uncommon, i will put it that way. >> arthel: uh-huh. >> but over the past 18 months. we have grown accustomed to it, and over the past six weeks, we have this delta surge, and that hit us pretty hard. we've had 18 or 20 patients in house at any given time, and so, you know, we've adapted to that. i would say that the biggest strain for us has been really

the physical and emotional exhaustion that many of the staff are feeling. the people who have been taking care of these children with covid and with a variety of other medical illnesses of course, are the same people who are locked down in the building today, taking care of children through this hurricane, and so despite the exhaustion, people are here, and they're doing their jobs, and, you know, i couldn't be prouder of them. >> arthel: yeah, i know you are. you beat me to the punch there, because that's exactly what fs i was -- what i was going to get to, the emotional exhaustion of you and your staff and everybody, the frontline workers there at children's hospital in new orleans, and just everything you're dealing with. you are all there working. i know you are not asking for praise, but we're giving it to you, because your families are at home, you know, so we thank you for the work you're doing there. is there anything that anyone listening to us right now can do to help you?

>> well, we just say keep us in your thoughts and prayers. everyone is working extremely hard, and things are under control, despite the chaos out that window. inside these four walls, we're in good shape right now, and we trust that this storm will pass and that we'll all be able to breathe a sigh of relief over the next couple of days. covid is still going to be there. we're still going to be dealing with it. we have seen it abate a bit over the past week, and so we hope we continue on that trend and that the hurricane doesn't undo any of the progress that we've made. >> arthel: do you have enough generators? >> we do. i'm talking with you by natural light, you may notice, coming in through the window here, and so we've lost city power, and so my office here is sort of a non-essential part of the building. all of the patient care areas are on emergency generation right now. and we've got plenty of fuel for

the generators, and so there's no urgency there. >> arthel: okay. doctor, i don't want to hold you any longer. thank you for giving us an update on what's happening there at children's hospital in new orleans. we wish you all the best and all the families there and especially the children there in your care. thank you very much, doctor. >> thank you so much. >> arthel: uh-huh. eric? >> eric: front line heros, really staying on duty through the storm. we continue to track hurricanec ida as it passes the gulf coast, marching north with winds of 150 miles-an-hour. it could dump nearlyeet of rain in some places. our fox team coverage continues right after this. oh! are you using liberty mutual's coverage customizer tool? so you only pay for what you need. sorry? limu, you're an animal! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ >> tech: every customer has their own safelite story. this couple was on a camping trip...

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it all, comes down, to this. ♪♪ >> eric: hurricane ida pummelling the gulf coast from louisiana to alabama, slashing the region with torrential rain and powerful winds up to 150 miles-per-hour. the impact is expected to stretch further inland as we continue to places like lafayette, louisiana. that's where fox weather correspondent steve bender is standing by. steve, it looks kind of -- you know, is it sunny and not raining there? >> yeah, eric, that's a great question. off and on, it's been sunny, so the last two hours, we've been seeing that sunshine. it is really warmed up here in

lafayette, but now we're starting to feel that wind impact move in, as the outer bands come into more central louisiana, and so really we're going to feel that impact here in lafayette late this afternoon, through the evening time, and once it starts to get dark, we'll see that rain come down, and the governor is still asking everybody to stay indoors, but for right now, it is really coastal louisiana that has taken the brunt of this storm. notice behinds me, want to set the scene for you. this is a sunday afternoon, in lafayette, so everybody is still heeding that warning, staying indoors. most of the businesses are closed right around 10:00 a.m. this morning. a few also boarded up the windows as we do expect the wind to pick up to 60 to 70 miles-an-hour gusts later on today. right now the max was 30 to 40 miles-per-hour. shifting our focus to coastal louisiana that's where a majority of power outage. just shy of 400,000 people

without power at the coastal region. we heard that that number is likely to rise in the next 24 to 36 hours, and it is all because the power outages you are witnessing now are because of hurricane-force winds. as this storm slowly moves inland, we are going to continue to see that rainfall, 15 to 20 inches of rain is going to saturate the ground, and that's where we could see more trees start to topple over, impacting those power lines. if you have been hunkering in place and staying in place indoors, you need to be prepared for at least three days without power, as those emergency crews start to move back in and try to help those and to restore that power. i have looked at that storm surge, and it is still continuing to impact those areas like grand isle bay st. louis, shell beach which is to the east of new orleans, they are still seeing six and a half feet of water on that beach. if you notice, radar, it is all on the dirty side of this storm, on that right quadrant.

as you will notice, the rain continues to pepper that area. as this moves on shore, you will create that friction over land, and that's where we could see some of that circulation and tornadic conditions throughout the afternoon. so here in lafayette, it's been quiet because we're on the western side of the storm, but if you are east, from new orleans all the way up towards jackson, mississippi, into even parts of alabama, those outer bands can spin off, and that's where we could see those tornadoes, and while we are asking you to stay vigilant and also stay inside, through this storm system, it is going to be active here today and tomorrow. we'll continue to give you those live updates from lafayette. back to you, eric. >> eric: steve fox weather correspondent. lafayette is about two hour drive or so west of new orleans. as you said, you're on the west side of the storm. thanks, steve. louisiana is taking a direct hit from ida, but millions in mississippi, well, they are also bracing for potentially catastrophic damage in that

state. fox weather coverage continues now with live in gulf port, mississippi work the latest there -- gulf port, mississippi, with the latest there. >> i'm on the opposite side of the storm is what steve was explaining to you. my impacts are dramatically different than what he is showing you because of my positioning. this is really where things start to get real for gulf port and for biloxi. a curfew was instated here at about 8:00 a.m. today. one of the things we have been observing, this is highway 90 behind me. even you see a big old oak tree behind me, we are waterfront. we're here to document these impacts as they come in right off the water. one of the things we're noticing happening around us is deputies are having to stop vehicles right now and have them get off the road and let them know that hey, we're going to cite you for being out in this curfew, because they are having to risk their safety. part of the reason that's happening is because once this wind, it's sustained now, about 40 miles-per-hour, once this wind reaches a certain point,

they may be ordered off the road, and so they're trying to remind a lot of the motorists who may be out kind of joyriding or taking a look, that they are having to risk their safety, and that if they get into trouble, there may not be able to get help for a little while. they are trying to get that word out. we have had a lot of talk with our weather experts, with rick and adam and steve kind of telling you about the significance of being in the upper right quadrant of this storm. that's where we are. and so we're just now beginning to see these serious impacts. this story is just beginning for this part of the coast. and we certainly have several long hours ahead. eric? >> eric: what do you expect during those next hours in terms of the impact where you are right now? we see the difference between you and what we just saw with steve. >> yeah, and amazingly right now, we actually still have power in our immediate part of what we can see here gulf port. i don't expect that to last long. we have some transformers. i expect them to go at any minute. it is just going to happen with wind like this.

i expect that to be an issue. we are getting reports that highway 90 right here behind me is starting to flood in several parts of it because of the storm surge. immediately kind of out of our viewing area here, we are starting to see that road get closed. more of these dangers that we are trying to get people to a safe place right now and just ride this out. i know my camera is fogging up here. i'm going to do a live action of cleaning the lens, if you don't mind. that happens. we're in the middle of a hurricane. they are trying to get these folks off the road and in safe shelter right now because it is going to continue to go downhill. >> eric: that old saying turn around don't drown. will, thank you very much. >> without a doubt. >> arthel: thank you. for more on the storm's impact, we will bring in the president of st. charles parish, louisiana, and matthew, i understand that you ordered a mandatory evacuation. you still have some of the residents stayed, nonetheless, and i understand that you have two shelters of last resort

prepared? where are they? what are they? how are they outfitted >>? how are they outfitted? how many residents do you think will show up there? >> the conditions have started to deteriorate earlier today. the power is starting to go out. we lost power at our emergency operations center here where i am right now. we are under generator back upright now. those power outages continue at the moment. i would say probably close to 70 -- 75% of the parish is without power. we have two shelters of last resort, but really the conditions are too unsafe right now for our residents to get on the road. we're asking -- those two sites are at our community center and at the middle school on the east bank of st. charles parish. we are starting to see these sustained winds just holding really strong right now, and we expect that to increase as we get closer to the eyewall, which should be over st. charles parish around 5:00, 6:00, or 7:00 p.m. tonight. >> arthel: yeah, you know, the

shelter is -- i understand it, tell me if i have this right, that the residents had to bring their own provisions. i mean, you just provided literally a shelter from the storm, but they had to bring -- >> yeah, a shelter of last resort is literally just a safer building to ride out the storm. when we sent out our messaging for our shelter of last resort, we were targeting people in manufactured homes, mobile homes or any structure that might be substandard for someone to ride out sustained 100 miles-an-hour winds. so that's really who that was geared towards. we did get over 40 people who decided to come to our shelter of refuge here on the west bank and at the community center. >> arthel: before i let you go, matthew, anticipated 16 foot storm surge there? you've got the high winds already around. possible tornadoes. potential prolonged power outages. you are already experiencing power outages right now. how do you prepare for such

conditions, you know, beyond this? can st. charles parish withstand it? do you know if the spillway is in play in terms of controlling the water flow? >> no, the spillway will only control the water of the mississippi river during high river events, usually early spring, early summer, but, you know, you ask how do you prepare for things like this? there's only so much you can do. we are not as fortunate as the new orleans who have the levee system. we have been fighting to build whatever levees we can as a local government. but obviously a local government can't afford a billion dollars flood protection system on its own. so we've been building flood protection systems, and when you get potential storm surges of greater than ten feet, there's only so much you can do to prepare, which is why we strongly encouraged our residents under a mandatory evacuation to leave the parish. >> arthel: maybe there can be some more help on the way to fortify the levees there in st. charles parish.

so we wish you all the best, president matthew jewel. thank you very much for joining us. good luck from all of us here at fox. we're going to take a break. >> thanks for having me. >> arthel: you're very welcome. we're going to take a break. our coverage of hurricane ida continues. rgy. whoo hoo! ensure, with 27 vitamins and minerals, now introducing ensure complete! with 30 grams of protein. (vo) how do you know when you've found your team? whether you're winning, or just doing your best. when you're on the lanes, they're right behind you. reunite with your team. go bowling.

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♪ squeak-squeakin' in the truck bed all the way home ♪ ♪ some alabama-jamma, she my dixieland delight ♪ ♪ ayy, that's how we do, ♪ ♪ how we do, fancy like, oh ♪ >> eric: a few minutes ago mike tobin was defiantly braving the winds of ida. as you can see, he's still standing. mike, how is it going? >> well, in the last half hour, ki tell you, eric -- i can tell you, eric, it seems the intensity of the wind gusts are picking up. the volume of water, right don't i step out on canal street right now since there's no traffic, one of the things you can see by looking at the street, as the sheets of rain come through, it just kind of manifests in the forms of waves here on the streets. and the problem with the volume of waer that's coming through, you have heard people talking about it, that new orleans is essentially a bowl because when it was built as they expanded with the development, they

drained a lot of the wetlands, and then that settled and put it below sea level. so they're reliant on pumps to get the water out of new orleans, but those pumps can handle a little less than an inch an hour. we're talking three inches an hour right now. water damage, flooding in the crescent city is pretty much inevitable. as you have seen other places outside the protection of the levee system, you have the storm surge they are contending with there. they are confident with the 14 billion dollars invested in the levee system since katrina that they can keep outside water from coming in, but there's nothing to stop all of this rain that is just buffeting this area. we talk about the wind. we've seen some wind damage in the area. i'm looking at a few things in the area here, like some billboards that really look like they are at risk as we get these big gusts that come through. right now i don't know if a whole lot of extensive wind damage, but the wind damage, the rain, there's nothing you can do to defend against that, and

you're certainly going to get a big volume of rain coming in to the crescent city. and the other thing that a point we made the last time we were up, is that the time to get out and move around, the time to evacuate, that's over. off couple peopl -- you have a couple people, like the reporters who will come out on the street but most of us have a good retreat plan in place. you do see some people who want to get out on the street, walk around, and see what the hurricane is like, that has happened. keep in mind, this is going to get more intense. as i look at the barometer -- another news crew out driving around -- as i look at the barometer, not quite to hurricane barometric pressure. so that means we're not quite into hurricane-force winds. anticipate as this hurricane ida moves rapidly, this is going to get worse in the coming hours. so we'll see how the damage develops, but certainly, increasing intensity with the wind and the volume of rain out there. eric? >> eric: you know, mike, you have a safety plan. you have the goggles on.

you're very mindful of being safe. and it shows exactly vividly how strong this can be even before it completely hits your area. i mean, what does it feel like when you get that stinging rain in your face, those huge gusts come in to try to blow you down? >> yeah, the gusts come and go. so there will be a minute when i feel like i can stand up straight and talk with you, and then you really start getting hammered by the wind. when it comes in like that, it is starting to pick up right now. this is when the wind really feels like it is starting to sting the side of your face. and that's the purpose that you mentioned of the goggles. these are just some shop glasses you can get at home depot. it makes it easier to keep your eyes open when you get this stinging rain moving at 70 miles-an-hour, like it is right about now. so there's one of those big gusts that we're talking about. and really, when those big gusts become relevant is when we're talking about the trees. let me show you one of these palm trees. one of the things you can see about them, of course, they are trees. they are anchored in the soil. this soil has been wet and it's

been wet for a long time. as we look up at the tree, it is just getting battered again and again and again. so eventually some of these trees start to give way, and when you think about all the power lines that are strung around louisiana, and strung around soil that's already wet, as they get beat for hours and hours and hours, sooner or later, those trees start getting knocked over. when they get knocked over, they take the power lines with them. that's why you have some 200,000 people who are already without power, and as the storm moves north, anticipate that's going to get worse. a lot of people will go without power and they will have to go without it for a long time because it is going to take a long time for the crews, most of them positioned outside of the storm and come in when it's over. it is going to take a long time for these crews to get to the people who will be without power. eric? >> eric: that shows what can happen. stay away from the palm tree, mike. at least stand a little safer in case something happens. >> i'm not hearing anything.

>> eric: you're not hearing me. okay. you got me now? that happens in a hurricane. we want mike and everyone to be safe. mike, can you hear me yet? no? i guess he can't. >> i think i lost the ifb. are they talking to you? >> eric: mike lost us. let him get inside and dry off a little bit down on canal street. mike tobin doing an amazing job showing us very vividly and graphically the effects of the wind and the gusts of hurricane ida that hasn't even completely hit new orleans yet. arthel? >> arthel: yeah, he did a phenomenal job as always. so listen, you know and you can see that, how hurricane ida can bring life-threatening winds and storm surge there. farther inland, though, you know, residents in baton rouge, north of new orleans, they are choosing to hunker down, stay put, kind of northwest. even though ida made landfall as a category 4 monster tomorrow today, exactly 16 years after

hurricane katrina came ashore as a weaker category 3. it's still real. casey stegall is live in baton rouge with more. >> i'm glad i'm able to follow mike tobin back-to-back because it really is apples and oranges when you compare the back grounds. look, i don't even have my rain jacket on yet or my waders. now, they are inside. we're ready to put them on because it is coming our way. it's just that it has slowed down, once it's made landfall, and it is going to take sometime before it gets up to us. we really haven't even seen much rain with these outer bands hitting us yet. that is going to change, and conditions expected to deteriorate here in the next few hours. in fact, we are about 80 miles from where mike tobin is at this point, but baton rouge is still under a hurricane warning, as we speak and a curfew goes into

effect here starting tonight, like so many other parishes across the region. grand isle, we want to take you there, for example, inundated with storm surge and rain. that's south of new orleans, right there along coastal southern louisiana. we're getting reports that there is six feet of water on highway 1. that's the only road in and out. white caps in fact on what used to be a road. most residents down there did heed the evacuation orders and got out. officials say, however, about 40 people decided to stay, and now they can't be reached for help. >> we have gotten requests for rescue for people who stayed on the island, obviously, and i mentioned white caps are on the highway. our fire station is taking water on grand isle. obviously, first responders can't get to you. those folks are going to have to hunker down and wait for the storm to pass before it's safe. >> now, up to 20 inches of rain could fall as we've been telling

you in isolated spots. emergency management officials say that the levees are holding at this time, and the pumps appear to be doing their job. the governor says, however, people need to be prepared for long-term power outages, just in the last few hours, we have watched that number climb. there are some 20,000 linemen that are here, on standby, positioned all across the state. half of them, 10,000 came in from other states, ahead of ida to help out once this thing gets through to start putting up the lines and restoring power as quickly as possible, but the governor warning that some people could be without it for a long period of time. eric? >> arthel: yeah, that's a big concern, casey, i will take it. don't worry, you will have time for some high winds to come your way. thank you for your excellent reporting. >> i know. >> arthel: thank you, casey. >> thank you. >> arthel: ida battering the gulf coast with life-threatening flooding and storm surge. our coverage, complete coverage of hurricane ida continues next.

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>> arthel: for hundreds of thousands of people along the gulf coast now without power, as hurricane ida barrels through, officials warn some power outages from hurricane ida could last a week if not more. the storm also affected -- expected to affect all oil refineries in the gulf. christina coleman has that story for us. christina, what can you tell us? >> hi, arthel. more than 410,000 customers without power throughout louisiana. this number is definitely expected to rise. catastrophic winds, damage to power lines are a major concern. the hurricane strong winds doubled in strength over the past 24 hours. here's president joe biden on the power outages. >> we've got generators in place, and we're in close touch with the power providers to get and restore power as soon as

possible, because a lot of it's going to go out. we should be prepared that it can take a long time, no matter how much we can position, which we have, that it will take a long time for it to get back up >> louisiana's major electricity provider says those in hardest-hit areas could experience power outages for weeks, three weeks in some cases. they also say crews will continue pouring into the region from at least 22 states and d.c. to help with the restoration process. though debris, damage, and flooding could delay some of those efforts. the company says essential services like hospitals, fire, police departments, water systems, and as i just mentioned hospitals will be at the top of the restoration list, if they end up losing power. keep in mind, some louisiana hospitals are already dealing with a lot. they are facing a lot of challenges with the recent surge in covid patients. here's the governor. >> we will have no higher priority than to make sure that

our hospitals can remain in operation and functional, and that's going to be a challenge because we expect widespread power outage for some time, but we know that they have generators. we know that they have stocked up on fuel and water and food and on pharmaceuticals, things like oxygen and so forth, but quite frankly, we know that the longer the power stays out, the more challenging this is going to be. >> also colonial pipeline, the largest petroleum products pipeline in the country, just announced it's temporarily stopping fuel deliveries from houston to greens boro north carolina but their fuel supply throughout the southeast and northeast will continue. they are monitoring the hurricane and any potential damage as they assess how this could affect their operations. arthel? >> arthel: christina, i have a text from the power company saying that we are prepared to

safely restore power as wind speeds decline below 30 miles-an-hour, so we've got some time before that condition is safe enough for that to happen. christina, thank you. we are going to take a short break. we will be right back. :: ♪ well the sun is shining and the grass is green ♪ ♪ i'm way ahead of schedule with my trusty team ♪ ♪ there's heather on the hedges ♪ ♪ and kenny on the koi ♪ ♪ and your truck's been demolished by the peterson boy ♪

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eric: we're track hurricane ida as it batters new orleans. there is downtown new orleans. the american flag still standing proudly, though tattered by the winds of the hurricane. fox weather meteorologist adam klotz tracking where ida's going. what do we expect, adam? adam: hey, eric. it's a very slow moving storm, and that continues. winds are now down to 30 miles an hour. for the last five hours, initially made landfall five hours ago, saw a little bit of a wobble in the eye wall, but now it's still looking pretty tight, 130 miles an hour winds. it's now moving to the northwest at 10 miles an hour. it continues to slow down and as it slows down, that means if you're in the path of this, you're just going to experience it longer and longer because it's going to be moving so slow as it eventually continues to crawl to the northwest. there's new orleans off to the north and the east, and you can tell by the path of this, this is not a direct hit on new

orleans. they're getting some very haugh rains and strong winds, but this is probably about as close to new orleans as the center, the actual eye wall, is going to be. if you pay attention to hurricanes, you do know typically the worst conditions are on the right-hand side of the storm or the eastern side of the storm, and we are seeing this. these are our recent wind gusts, new orleans 60s, 70s and closer to 80 i saw recently. very powerful winds off to the eastern side of this storm. and as this continues to move on up to the north, such a big storm that a we still see a very large area with hurricane warnings, all the way up to the state line because it's moving slow, because the winds are still powerful, it's going to be one you have to pay attention to more than just right along the coast. this is our forecast. taking you into this evening, still a category 1 hurricane before eventually overnight weakening into a tropical storm as it continues to make that move up to the north. but it's going to bring not just

wind, a whole lot of rain. this is additional rainfall. so not what we already are seen, additional rainfall, and you're still looking at areas in portions of eastern louisiana, another 10 inches, maybe a foot of rain, up into northern mississippi, alabama, all areas -- actually, it tracks all the way up into the ohio river valley. so for the next three days, there's some areas where we could see flooding because, again, this is all getting into river systems and traveling back down to the gulf of mexico, eric. this is going to be something we're paying attention to 12 hours but really the next couple of days. eric: right up through the southeast. and, arthel, we're thinking of your hometown, new orleans, your home state, and all those on the gulf coast. what's your family are, how are they doing and what are your friends telling you? arthel: well, thank you. my mom's safe in texas. aye got some relatives in hotels in town. they're good, thank goodness. they have a generator there at the hotel. i heard from a friend in

mississippi, they're doing okay. nothing extends thive yet, so we're keeping our fingers crossed for there. then also friends at a lower building, condo building in the lower garden district, they're already without power. so it's a mixed bag at this time, but where you saw mike tobin on canal street, that's where the hotel is i was talking about, it's downtown, and the building i'm referring to is not far from there as well. so the winds are very heavy. now, i have to tell you that i'm concerned about the pictures that i saw from lake pontchartrain out on the lakefront if where it's already, you know, spilling over its, you know, over the stairs there. there's some stairs that we used to sit on -- well, i didn't fish, but my daddy would fish. you can't even see those stairs right now, that's how high lake ponte chair train is. you know, listen, guys, we are going to be watching and reporting on this throughout the evening, and we are praying for the people of louisiana,

mississippi, alabama, tennessee, whoever is in the path of ida. and, you know, we just want to stick together as americans, and we are also, of course, thinking about our troops over there in afghanistan in harm's way. so that's it from husband here -- eric: absolutely. arthel: thank you for joining us. eric, thank you. eric: thank you, arthel. arthel: yeah. thanks, everybody. ♪ ♪ >> hello, everyone. i'm jackie deangelis along with joey jones, lara trump, leo terrell, and welcome to the "the big sunday show is." first, hurricane ida slamming louisiana. the hurricane hit with a 17-mile-wide eye, 16-foot storm surges forecasted. >> we're praying for the best and planning, prepared for the worst. this is going to be a devastating, a devastating

hurricane. a life-threatening