- INew Orleans ilindele impembelelo ebalulekileyo kwiNkanyamba uIda.
- Isiqhwithi setropiki ngoku sichazwa njengeNkanyamba yokuqala.
- Uqikelelo olongezelelweyo lwathi i-Ida inokujika ibe yinkanyamba enkulu yeCandelo 3.
Njengokufika kweNew Orleans ngenxa yokuwa komhlaba kweNkanyamba u-Ida, usodolophu wesixeko ukhuphe wayalela ukuba kukhutshwe bonke abahlali abahlala ngaphandle kwenkqubo yesixeko.
“Lixesha lokuba uqale ngoku,” New Orleans USodolophu, u-LaToya Cantrell uthe kwinkomfa yoonondaba ngolwe-Sihlanu njengoko ebongoza abahlali baseNew Orleans ukuba bapakishe izinto abazokuzihamba kwaye bahambe ngaphambi kokuba kufike isaqhwithi.
Uye wayalela wonke umntu ohlala ngaphandle kwenkqubo ye-levee ekhusela indawo kwizikhukula ukuba ifudukele kwiindawo ezikhuselekileyo, kwaye wacebisa abo bangaphakathi ukuba bacinge ukushiya nabo.
Abo bangaphakathi kwinqanaba banokuhamba ngokuzithandela, utshilo uCantrell.
The Inkonzo yeSizwe yeMozulu yaseMelika utshilo ngolwe-Sihlanu ukuba isaqhwithi setropiki, esasisele siza kufika eCuba, ngoku sasichazwa njengenkanyamba yodidi 1, nemimoya yayo efikelela kwisantya seekhilomitha ezili-120 ngeyure. Urhulumente waseCuba sele ekhuphe isilumkiso senkanyamba kumaphondo esizwe esentshona.
Uqikelelo olongezelelweyo lwathi i-Ida inokujika ibe yinkanyamba enkulu yeCandelo 3 kunye nemimoya ukuya kuthi ga kwi-193 yeekhilomitha ngeyure xa ifikelela kunxweme lwase-US. Umzila wengqikelelo uye ngqo ngqo eNew Orleans. Ayilunganga, ”utshilo uJim Kossin, isazinzulu esiphakamileyo kwiNkonzo yezeMozulu.
Irhuluneli yaseLouisiana uJohn Bel Edwards ubhengeze imeko kaxakeka kurhulumente ngoLwesine ngolindelo lwenkqubo yemozulu efika emhlabeni kule mpelaveki.
"Ngelishwa, yonke indawo eselunxwemeni yaseLouisiana okwangoku ikwi-cone eqikelelweyo," utshilo u-Edwards, esithi, "ngokuhlwa kwangoMgqibelo, wonke umntu kufuneka abe kwindawo apho azimisele ukuphuma kwesi saqhwithi."
Inkanyamba u-Ida ingabetha kakuhle New Orleans ngomhla ofanayo nowahlasela iNkanyamba uKatrina kwiminyaka eli-16 eyadlulayo-nge-29 ka-Agasti.
Emuva ngo-2005, uKatrina wabulala abantu abayi-1,800 xa behamba kwindawo ehamba ukusuka kunxweme laseLouanaana ukuya kummandla welizwe laseMississippi-Alabama. Ikwabangele intlekele yezikhukula eNew Orleans, malunga neepesenti ezingama-80 zedolophu phantsi kwamanzi.
INTO ONOKUYITHATHA KWELI NQAKU:
- The US National Weather Service said on Friday that the tropical storm, which was about to reach Cuba, was now classified as a Category 1 hurricane, with its winds reaching a speed of 120 kilometers an hour.
- “Now is the time to start,” New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said at a press conference on Friday as she urged New Orleans residents to pack up supplies and leave before the storm hits.
- As as New Orleans braces for Hurricane Ida's landfall, the city’s mayor has issued and order of the evacuation for all residents living outside the city's levee system.
