The storm, wielding some of the most powerful winds ever to hit the state, drove a wall of water inland when it thundered ashore Sunday as a Category 4 hurricane and reversed the course of part of the Mississippi River. The Royal Dutch Shell plc Norco Refinery during a power outage caused by Hurricane Ida in LaPlace, La., on Monday, Aug. The Port of Houston’s facilities, which are built 20 feet above sea level, likely would have survived. Ida’s 15-foot storm surge would have been smaller than Hurricane Ike’s 22-foot storm surge, the worst of which hit Bolivar Peninsula and parts of Chambers County in 2008. HURRICANE IDA: Incredible satellite images show Louisiana before and after Hurricane Ida's devastation If Ida had hit Galveston instead of Port Fouchon, La., the hurricane could have caused devastating damage across the Houston region, meteorologists said. “We are sitting ducks right now for a storm,” said Bill Merrell, a Texas A&M University professor who began advocating for an “Ike Dike” coastal barrier system years ago that has yet to get congressional approval. The stakes are high: The Houston area is home to 7.1 million residents, one of the busiest shipping ports in the country and the nation’s largest concentration of critical oil and gas facilities. Unlike New Orleans, which strengthened its levee system after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Houston hasn’t completed any substantial projects to protect the region against surge from a major hurricane such as Ida. A Category 4 hurricane such as Ida - which brought a triple threat of wind, storm surge and torrential rainfall - would have wreaked havoc on the Bayou City. The region dodged yet another bullet last Sunday when Ida made landfall in Louisiana, inflicting catastrophic damage on its residents, property and oil-driven economy.īut Houston’s streak of relatively good luck since Hurricane Harvey four years ago is unlikely to last as climate change is expected to bring about more destructive hurricanes and sea level rise. If Hurricane Ida had veered west and hit Galveston, its 15-foot storm surge could have devastated the city and plowed up the Houston Ship Channel, smashing into residential communities and industrial facilities its 150 mph winds could have left much of the Houston area without power for weeks, experts said. Yi-Chin Lee, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Show More Show Less Rice University Baker Institute Faculty Scholar Jim Blackburn. Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Show More Show Less 5 of5 29, 2020, in Cameron Parish near Grand Lake, La. Utility crews pass a national guard Humvee while driving north on State Highway 27 on Saturday, Aug. Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Show More Show Less 4 of5 Utility trucks gather in Orange, Texas as recovery efforts continue following Hurricane Laura on Friday, Aug. Brett Coomer, Staff / Houston Chronicle Show More Show Less 3 of5 ![]() The Fred Hartman Bridge is shown in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Harvey on Wednesday, Aug. Phillip, STF / Associated Press Show More Show Less 2 of5 A barge settles on a bridge in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, Monday, Aug.
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