On August 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida made landfall on Louisiana’s Gulf Coast, becoming the second-most damaging and intense hurricane on record to make landfall there, behind Hurricane Katrina in 2005. With 149-mile-per-hour winds, the Category 4 hurricane was just shy of the 157-mile-per-hour wind classification to be ranked as a Category 5 storm. And as with any major storm, the destruction and devastation was profound.
Hurricane Ida brought upwards of $60 billion dollars in damages, $18 billion of which were made up of insured losses in Louisiana alone. Another $584 million in damages were estimated to the surrounding areas’ agriculture. As the storm continued with somewhat weaker winds, it made its way from the South to the Northeast U.S. As a result, many across the region saw firsthand what a significant event Hurricane Ida really was, creating an unusual blow to New York and New Jersey, specifically – areas that were not as prepared to handle floods and extreme winds.