Photos: Scenes From Hurricane Ida's Devastating Path

By Michele Abercrombie,

Nicole Werbeck, Virginia Lozano, Bill Chappell

Published August 29, 2021 at 3:02 PM EDT

Hurricane Ida is seen in this image taken aboard the International Space Station. The dangerous hurricane made landfall in Louisiana on Sunday, Aug. 29, with maximum sustained winds of 150 miles per hour. The image was shared on European Space Agency astronaut and Expedition 65 crew member Thomas Pesquet's Twitter account, as the storm churned in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of its landfall.

The National Hurricane Center says Hurricane Ida made U.S. landfall as a category 4 storm with 150 mph winds near Port Fourchon, Louisiana on Sunday afternoon.

Hurricane Ida nearly doubled in strength in a day, fueled by the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. This is the second year in a row that a hurricane with 150 mph winds has hit Louisiana.

Governor John Bel Edwards says it will be the strongest storm to hit Louisiana since the 1850s. Ida strikes on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, blamed for 1,800 deaths in 2005. Ida will be a test for an elaborate new flood protection system designed to protect New Orleans from the devastating levee breaches back then.

The past few days saw residents of Louisiana preparing for the storm with many people evacuating while others are sheltering in place. Here is a look at the area.

Heavy rain falls as storm surge begins to encroach on Louisiana Route 1 ahead of Hurricane Ida in Golden Meadow, Louisiana, U.S., on Sunday, Aug. 29.

A person pushes a shopping cart through rain and high winds past a closed restaurant on Canal Street in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 29 during Hurricane Ida.

People do last-minute shopping ahead of Hurricane Ida on Sunday morning, August 29, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Residents of New Orleans continue to prepare as the outer bands of the hurricane begin to cut across the city.

A news crew reports on the edge of Lake Pontchartrain ahead of approaching Hurricane Ida in New Orleans, Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021.

Rain comes down at a wall of sandbags in Montegut, Louisiana before Hurricane Ida lands on Sunday, August 29.

Heavy traffic clogs Interstate 10 out of New Orleans as residents and visitors evacuate for the expected arrival of Hurricane Ida Saturday, Aug. 28, in Slidell, La.

Montegut firefighters gather to say a prayer in Montegut, Louisiana before Hurricane Ida lands on August 29.

Ann Colette Boudreaux comforts her grandson Abel ahead of Hurricane Ida on the morning of August 29, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

People stand in line to get through the TSA security checkpoint at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport on August 28 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Residents were evacuating the area as Hurricane Ida works its way toward the Louisiana coastline with an expected landfall on Sunday afternoon.

High winds blow palm trees as Entergy Corp. electric utility company bucket trucks are staged on Canal Street in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 29 during Hurricane Ida.