Louisiana first responders can’t answer search and rescue calls until Monday morning, governor says

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) said that first responders won’t be able to answer search and rescue calls until Monday morning due to the arrival of Hurricane Ida, The Advocate reported.

“It’s weather dependent and quite frankly, before the weather gets good enough for us to respond it’s also going to be dark,” Edwards said at a press conference Sunday. “We will be ready at first light tomorrow morning to go out to those areas that we know already have received the most damaging impacts from the storm.”

“It doesn’t help anyone to dispatch first responders on a call if you’re actually going to cause the first responder to be in a very bad situation in terms of either getting hurt or killed or just being stuck where they then have to ride it out there or you send somebody else,” he added. 

Hurricane Ida made landfall Sunday as a Category 4 storm, hitting New Orleans and surrounding areas.

Sunday also marks the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina ripping through the region, leaving a devastating impact on the city of New Orleans, as well as much of the Mississippi gulf coast. 

Edwards said that sixteen other states have sent a total of 900 people to help with first responders efforts during the storm, the Advocate reported.