Hurricane Ida makes landfall, reversing the flow of the Mississippi River

Hurricane Ida reversed the flow of the Mississippi River. (Source: Associated Press)

At noon on August 29 local time, Category 4 hurricane Ida hit Louisiana with heavy rain, strong winds and rising sea levels.

This is the strongest hurricane to hit the state since Hurricane Katrina 16 years ago, which killed more than 1,800 people and caused $125 billion in damage.

Hurricane Ida strengthened on the morning of August 29 with winds of about 150 mph (240 km/h), leaving 400,000 people in the state without power as of 4:30 p.m. the same day.

Power outages are expected to continue as the storm moves inland.

High tides and strong winds caused the flow of the Mississippi River to reverse, a phenomenon that the USGS Geological Survey says is "extremely rare."

This phenomenon also occurred when Hurricane Katrina hit the state, according to hydrologist Scott Perrien.

In response to Hurricane Ida as a routine precaution and safety measure during severe weather conditions, representatives of Colonial Pipeline - the largest fuel pipeline operator in the US, announced the temporary shutdown of two fuel pipelines No. 1 and No. 2 between Houston, Texas and Greensboro, North Carolina.

Pipelines 3 and 4, which carry fuel from Greensboro to Linden, New Jersey, were not affected and continued to operate.

Colonial Pipeline said it hopes to resume operations of the two pipelines soon after assessing the infrastructure and implementing a start-up plan.

On the same day, US President Joe Biden called on people to follow storm avoidance instructions from local and state officials.

"This is a life-threatening storm and its destructive power could be immense," President Biden stressed.

He said the storm not only had an impact on coastal areas, but also onNew Orleans, but also in the northern region where rainfall is expected to be extremely high.

President Joe Biden also pledged to devote all his efforts to rescue and recovery efforts as quickly as possible.

Earlier, the National Weather Service in New Orleans warned that in addition to sea level rise of 3.7-4.8 meters in Port Fourchon, La., south of New Orleans, to the mouth of the Mississippi River and some areas could see 500mm or more of rain. In addition, tornadoes and extremely strong winds could occur in areas near New Orleans.

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said the storm would be one of the strongest to hit the state since the 1850s, and President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency for Louisiana and Mississippi, allowing the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate all disaster relief efforts./.