Flash flood warning in Tennessee after Hurricane Ida rips through South killing five, sparking national fuel shortage panic and leaving tens of thousands without power: Storm heads northeast towards New York

Flash flood warnings have been issued for parts of Tennessee as well as New York City and the Tri-state area as storm Ida moves northeast after ripping through Mississippi and Louisiana.

Ida was the fifth-strongest hurricane to ever make landfall in the U.S when it barreled across the South on Sunday night. The Category 4 storm has caused an estimated $80 billion in damage and sparked fears of a national fuel shortage after gas refineries were forced to suspend operations. More than 1.1 million homes and businesses are now also without power, and at least five people have been confirmed dead.  

Ida has since weakened to a tropical depression, but residents in Tennessee are now being warned of hazardous conditions as the storm moves up through the country towards New York. 

A Flash Flood Watch is now in effect for East Tennessee, with residents reporting significant rainfall in the area Tuesday afternoon.  

A Flash Flood Watch was also issued for New York City as Ida moves east, expecting to hit Pennsylvania, the Tri-state and New England area from early Wednesday morning through Thursday afternoon.

Between two to five inches of rain is expected to fall on the New York City area beginning on Wednesday at around 5a.m., according to News 12 Bronx. Higher amounts of rain are a possibility.

Heavy rain is then anticipated on early Thursday morning, causing potentially life-threatening and damaging flooding in the city. The rain is supposed to end anytime from noon to 3p.m.

There’s also a risk of tornadoes in the region, which could also potentially hit central and south New Jersey.

Ida will likely be a tropical rainstorm by the time it reaches the Northeast on Wednesday. Even after it moves off the New England coast later Thursday, residents across the Northeast may still feel the storm's wrath in the days that follow. Many major metropolitan areas, including Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. are under flash flood watch

The five boroughs of New York City and parts of southern New Jersey are expected to be under both flash flood and tornado watch when Ida reaches the Northeast on Wednesday morning

Power outages are expected due to the combination of heavy rain, severe wind and recent rain.

Depending on the storm’s intensity, Central Park could accumulate an average worth of rainfall in the entire month of September (4.31 inches) in just a day or two.

If the park reaches 3.8 inches of rain for the day on Wednesday or Thursday, then it would top daily records that have been in place since 1927. 

Considerable flash flood impacts are also expected in West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. 

Hurricane Ida is expected to hit the southeastern area of Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia, harder than any other region of the state, as local meteorologists expect three to ten inches of rain around Harrisburg and Gettysburg

Residents in eastern Tennessee have reported significant rainfall in the area Tuesday afternoon. 

The National Weather Service tweeted that 'heavy storms will continue through Friday' with up to six inches of rain expected in the Tennessee Valley area.  

Meanwhile, Louisiana and Mississippi have resumed search and rescued operations after being battered by the Hurricane. On Tuesday it was learned that:  

A Flash Flood Watch has been issued for parts of Tennessee as Ida moves northeast after ripping through Mississippi and Louisiana. Flooded homes are seen in Jean Lafitte, Louisiana on Tuesday

Ida has now downgraded to a tropical depression and is now moving northeast, bringing flash flooding to multiple states in the northeast 

A Flash Flood Watch is now in effect for East Tennessee, with residents reporting significant rainfall in the area Tuesday afternoon.

Ida sparks fears of nationwide fuel shortage after pipelines close and refineries suspend operations 

Ida is set to cause a surge in fuel prices after the Category 4 storm forced the closure of almost 95 percent of oil and gas refineries along the Gulf Coast. 

Shell, Valero Energy and Marathon Petroleum were among those who suspended operations before the hurricane made landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi on Sunday. Colonial Pipeline Co. also closed two crucial pipelines that transport fuel to the East Coast of the United States. 

While the pipelines and many plants have now resumed production, Exxon Mobil Corp's 520,000 barrel-a-day oil processing and chemical complex in Baton Rouge remains shuttered as of Tuesday morning. A company spokesperson stated the closure was 'due to lack of power and raw materials'. 

Meanwhile, Phillips 66's 255,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Belle Chasse also remains closed The facility has taken on water, according to the Wall Street Journal, and bosses have not yet surveyed the plant citing safety concerns. 

The outages could help push retail gasoline prices up 25 cents per gallon with processing halted, tracking firm GasBuddy told Reuters. However, some say costs at the petrol pump could go even higher if operations at all refineries do not resume at normal rates in the coming days. 

'There's no clarity,' around power supplies in the region as of yet, said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis for Oil Price Information Service, told the Journal. 'If they say the southeastern parishes in that house a lot of big refineries aren't going to be back on the grid for weeks, it's a much more serious event.' 

The average US price for a gallon of regular was reported at $3.15 on Monday, up from an average of $2.16 in January, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. 

In Louisiana, residents have reported long lines at gas stations. One video shared on social media Tuesday showed cars banked up for blocks in New Orleans waiting to reach a gas pump. 

Before the Ida even made landfall, there was a rush on gas stations. By the weekend, almost 10 percent of gas stations in New Orleans and Baton Rouge were reportedly running dry.   

Ida has now weakened to a tropical storm and is plowing northeast. It is currently moving across Alabama and is expected to move up through West Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey by Thursday before showering New York on Friday.  

Pandemonium at the pump: Hurricane Ida is set to cause a nationwide surge in fuel prices after Hurricane Ida forced the closure of almost 95 percent of oil and gas refineries along the Gulf Coast. Cars are pictured lining up at a New Orleans gas station on Monday 

Residents wrapped around the corner of this Chevron station in New Orleans on Monday night trying to stock up on fuel 

Locals are pictured filling tanks at a Chevron after lining up for hours to get to the pump 

Before Ida even made landfall, there was a rush on gas stations. By the weekend, almost 10 percent of gas stations in New Orleans and Baton Rouge were reportedly running dry 

Floodwater fills an area at a refinery where flaring was taking place the morning after Hurricane Ida in Norco, Louisiana

A gas station is seen destroyed by Hurricane Ida in Houma, Louisiana after the storm moved through on Sunday night 

Before Ida even made landfall, there was a rush on gas stations. By the weekend, almost 10 percent of gas stations in New Orleans and Baton Rouge were reportedly running dry. Cars are seen lining up for hours to get gas in Mississippi on Saturday  

Residents of Jefferson Parish in NOLA warned to prepare for at least a MONTH of no electricity

More than 1.1 million homes and businesses across Louisiana are still without power, Governor John Bel Edwards confirmed at a press conference on Tuesday. 

Officials estimate that Jefferson Parish - home to 440,000 people and located just south of New Orleans - may be without power for more than a month. 

Councilman Deano Bonano told Reuters that utility poles across the country were completely flattened by gale-force winds. 

'The damage from this is far worse than Katrina from a wind standpoint,' said Bonano. 'We are going to be without with power for four to six weeks.'

The damage to Louisiana's power grid from Ida is so extensive that the U.S. Coast Guard has joined the task of assessing the wreckage, a departure from its maritime security duties.   

One large electrical tower collapsed near Avondale, Louisiana, prompting the Coast Guard to join in a clean-up effort because of the tower's potential hazard to navigation.

Officials estimate that Jefferson Parish - home to 440,000 people and located just south of New Orleans - may be without power for more than a month

Ida death toll stands at 5, with more fatalities expected 

On Tuesday morning, Louisiana's Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser warned locals should brace for bad news as rescue crews set out in boats and high-water trucks to search submerged areas for any remaining survivors.

 telling the Today Show Tuesday morning: 'Knowing so many people stayed behind, we expect there will be more people found who have passed. 

'First responders will go house to house checking attics, as the water goes down. They make a first pass looking for survivors, and then a second pass looking for anyone that might have died in those homes.' 

Nungesser's comments come as CBS This Morning shared dramatic video of a failed rescue attempt of a man whose car became subsumed in seven foot floodwaters. 

The heart-wrenching clip shows the victim sitting in the driver's seat of the vehicle as water quickly rises up towards the steering wheel. He soon became completely submerged and lost consciousness, before a Good Samaritan pulled him from the water and attempted to perform CPR. 

'I probably did CPR on him for about 20, 30 minutes before any help got out, but he didn't make it,' the Good Samaritan stated.  

Among the victims is a Louisiana man whose wife told WWL-TV that he was eaten by an alligator while wading through waist-deep floodwater in a shed outside their home. The distraught woman told local officers that she went to check on her husband after 'hearing a splash' in the shed and discovered that the reptile had him 'locked in a death roll'. 

The alligator subsequently ripped the man's arm off and he fell beneath the water. His wife frantically paddled to higher ground to alert authorities, but police and rescue crews have been unable to locate his remains.   

Meanwhile, more than  one million people in Louisiana remain without power, and some homes may have to wait a month before it is restored.  

Ida has now weakened to a tropical storm and is plowing northeast. It is currently moving across Alabama and is expected to move up through West Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey by Thursday before showering New York on Friday.   

The death toll from Hurricane Ida is expected to rise Tuesday, with rescue crews setting out in boats and high-water trucks to search submerged areas for any remaining survivors.  An Airboat is pictured perusing the streets of Lafitte, Louisiana on Monday afternoon 

Flooded streets and homes are shown in the Spring Meadow subdivision in LaPlace, Louisiana after Hurricane Ida moved through over the weekend 

A volunteer rides on top of a high water truck searching for people who may still be trapped inside their flooded homes

A parked car in downtown New Orleans, La., is seen damaged and in debris two days on Tuesday, two days after Hurricane Ida moved through 

Strong winds from Ida toppled this building in Houma, Louisiana on Sunday 

A local volunteer surveys damage done to a local bowling alley in Houma, Louisiana on Tuesday 

As #Ida swept through Louisiana, bystanders risked their lives to plunge into the dark waters and save strangers from flooded roadways. pic.twitter.com/XLyp8zdP1y

— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) August 31, 2021

As #Ida swept through Louisiana, bystanders risked their lives to plunge into the dark waters and save strangers from flooded roadways. pic.twitter.com/XLyp8zdP1y

HURRICANE IDA'S VICTIMS: 5 Confirmed Dead

Pictured: Highway Patrol officers assess the scene of a highway collapse in which two people were killed late on Monday

Part of Highway 26 washed away late Monday night, due to heavy rains from Hurricane Ida

 

Louisiana woman spots a DOLPHIN swimming in floodwaters outside her home 

Video of a dolphin spotted swimming in floodwaters caused by Hurricane Ida is going viral on social media. 

The incredible sighting occurred Monday in Slidell, Louisiana on Monday when local woman Amanda Hulling stepped outside to assess damage sustained to her home. 

Hulling quickly grabbed her phone and captured footage of the dolphin's dorsal fin surfacing above the water.

'The dolphin was still there as of last night but I am in contact with an organization who is going to be rescuing it within the next few days if it is still there,' Hulling told Fox35 Tuesday. 

Video of a dolphin spotted swimming in floodwaters caused by Hurricane Ida is going viral on social media

New Orleans Mayor vows to 'lock up looters' as 'anti-looting' officers patrol submerged streets

 NOLA Mayor LaToya Cantrell told reporters Monday that the city is cracking down on looting and all offenders will be charged with a state felony. 

She said: 'My directive has been very clear: lock 'em up. We will not tolerate and we have not tolerated it.'

On Monday, a group of men were caught by a drone camera trying to rob an ATM machine in the scorched remains of a market in the New Orleans neighborhood of St. Claude.  

In another incident, witnesses used their cell phone to record several people looting a store in New Orleans East. 

Looters often take advantage of disasters like Ida and New Orleans is all too familiar with this as it became a hotbed of criminal activity in the wake of Hurricane Katrina 16 years ago. 

Police Chief Shaun Ferguson added that the department deployed a group of 'anti-looting' officers and is working with the Louisiana National Guard to protect businesses from looters. 

Ferguson urged residents to report looting when they see it. 

'It is also incumbent upon the community to lean in and lean forward and say this is not the time,' he said. 'Right now we are going through some trying times and we need to really pull ourselves through this together.' 

Despite vowing to crack down on the crimes, Mayor Cantrell stated that the number of Good Samaritans far outweighed the number of opportunistic thieves.  

'What we do have that's widespread are residents who are being neighbors, who are understand and exhibiting the spirit of humility, of empathy, who are cleaning up their lawns and who are servicing their community. That's widespread in the city of New Orleans, that's who we are,' she stated on Monday. 

Mayor LaToya Cantrell said at a press conference that the city is cracking down on looting and all offenders will be charged with a state felony. Pictured: Drone footage shows looters inside a destroyed store in New Orleans

The city has already made 'several arrests' involving looters, Ferguson said and urged residents to report looting when they see it

Two men were detained by a Jefferson Parish deputy after being caught allegedly taking cigarettes from a convenience store in Bridge City

Police Chief Shaun Ferguson said that the department deployed a group of 'anti-looting' officers and is working with the Louisiana National Guard to protect businesses from looters

Louisiana residents are facing the prospect of a MONTH without power amid scorching temperatures and unbearable humidity  

As of Tuesday, more than 1.1 million homes and businesses were without power. Louisiana's Lt. Governor Nungesser says anyone who has lost it must go somewhere where there is power or a generator until it can be restored. 

With high temperatures expected to remain in the mid-80s for the foreseeable future, there are concerns that a lack of air conditioning could cause health problems for the sick and elderly. 

'That's a real concern with so many people out of power, especially seniors, in this weather. 25,000 contractors are out there working day and night. Some areas will come back on in days and some will take weeks. You're hearing weeks to get 90% back on...I don't have an update on that,' Nungesser told the Today Show on Tuesday. 

'In the short term, people are going to have to have places to go until their power gets back on. As you mentioned the water, we've got to get the water pressure... when the oak trees fall they rip, they rip up those water lines.' 

On Monday morning, 216 substations, 207 transmission lines and more than 2,000 miles of transmission lines were down.  

Meanwhile, the Sewer and Water Board of New Orleans said most, if not all of its 84 sewage pumping stations were without power. It was relying on generators to keep pumps working to drain the storm water out of the city and bring drinking water in. 

Entergy Louisiana officials said on Monday it may take days for utility crews to determine the extent of the damage to New Orleans' power grid. 

'We have a lot of rebuilding ahead of us,' the company wrote on Twitter. 'We'll be better prepared to give restoration estimates once assessments are done.' 

More than 11,000 Entergy workers, supplemented by 25,000 workers from at least 32 states and the District of Columbia, are currently working to restore power.  

A truck in Houma, Louisiana drives past a metal sign downed by Hurricane Ida's winds on Monday

Pictured: Theophilus Charles, 70, weeps while sitting on the front porch of his heavily damaged home in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in Houma, Louisiana, U.S., August 30, 2021

Homes near Norco, La., are surrounded by floodwater as chemical refineries continue to flare the day after Hurricane Ida hit southern Louisiana, Monday, Aug. 30, 2021

Fears Ida has created 'a perfect petri dish' for COVID in a state already batted by the virus 

The weather disaster hit a state where hospitals are already crowded with COVID patients, cases of the Delta variant were surging and nurses were in short supply. Louisiana is currently averaging 2,713 new Covid-19 cases a day, along with 55 daily deaths. 

It has one of the lowest vaccination rates among US states, with just over 40 percent of the population receiving their first dose. 

A handful of smaller hospitals have been forced to evacuate patients, while all major regional hospitals were doing fine for now in terms of damage, Dr. Joseph Kanter, the top medical official in Louisiana, said.

'Outside of a few, small outlying hospitals, it doesn't appear to be anything catastrophic,' said Kanter, who worked through Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when some two dozen hospitals in New Orleans had to be evacuated. 

Medical staff in Shreveport, Louisiana are seen moving a COVID victim to a funeral van ahead of Hurricane Ida. There are fears the storm could cause another surge in cases of the virus 

Heartbreak as Ida destroys iconic New Orleans jazz venue that stood in place for more than a century

It was learned on Monday that a storied New Orleans jazz site where a young Louis Armstrong once worked toppled when Ida blew through Louisiana. 

The Karnofsky Tailor Shop, where a Jewish family employed Armstrong, collapsed Sunday during the storm. Armstrong would play a small tin horn as he worked on the coal and junk wagons, according to the National Park Service.

The business opened downtown in 1913 and had a residence above it where the late jazz legend would often eat meals. The family, who provided Armstrong a 'second home,' lent him money to buy his first cornet.

'Louis said it was the Karnofskys that instilled the love of singing in his heart,' jazz historian and retired photojournalist John McCusker said, according to WWL-TV.

Morris Karnofsky, the family's son and Armstrong's childhood friend, opened the city's first jazz record shop on that same street, according to the park service. Armstrong would visit Morris Music when he returned to New Orleans after moving away.

A cluster of other sites that were integral to jazz´s early history in the city were also situated on South Rampart Street.

In 2019, a real estate firm that specializes in historic preservation was under contract to restore a part of the block that included the Karnofsky shop, The Times Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported. 

The company's CEO floated the idea of repurposing the building as a nightclub or jazz lounge.

But when daylight came Monday morning, all that was left was a pile of bricks and other remnants of the historic site.  

The Karnofsy Tailor Shop and residence, located at 427-431 South Rampart Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, before it was destroyed by Hurricane Ida

The remains of the iconic Karnofsky Shop are seen on Monday after Hurricane Ida blew through over the weekend 

Ida arrived 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina, one of the most catastrophic and deadly U.S. storms on record, struck the Gulf Coast, and about a year after the last Category 4 hurricane, Laura, battered Louisiana. 

Katrina breached New Orleans' levees, devastated the city and was blamed for 1,800 deaths.

This time, New Orleans escaped the catastrophic flooding some had feared. But city officials still urged people who evacuated to stay away for at least a couple of days because of the lack of power and fuel.

President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in the state, ordering federal assistance to bolster recovery efforts. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued emergency fuel waivers for Louisiana and Mississippi, effective immediately, on Monday night. It will end on Sept. 16.

Some places were also dealing with water problems. Eighteen water systems were out, impacting more than 312,000 people, and an additional 14 systems affecting another 329,000 people were under boil water advisories, Edwards said Monday.

The hurricane twisted and collapsed a giant tower that carries key transmission lines over the Mississippi River to the New Orleans area, causing widespread outages, Entergy and local authorities said. The power company said more than 2,000 miles of transmission lines were out of service, along with 216 substations. The tower had survived Katrina.

The storm also flattened utility poles, toppled trees onto power lines and caused transformers to explode. \

Accuweather's Dr. Joel N. Myers said on Monday that the total economic damage caused by Ida will likely fall between $70billion and $80billion.   

A photo provided by the office of U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) during a flyover with the US Coast Guard of southeast Louisiana shows damage of Port Fourchon from Hurricane Ida which made landfall as a category 4 Hurricane on Sunday. Cassidy surveyed Hurricane Ida damage from the air with the U.S. Coast Guard Ida Makes Landfall in Louisiana as a Category Four Hurricane, Grand Isle, USA - August 30, 2021

Louisiana National Guard assist in search and rescue missions related to flooding from Hurricane Ida in Jean Lafitte, Louisiana

A man preps an airboat to assist in search and rescue missions related to flooding from Hurricane Ida in Jean Lafitte, Louisiana

A pickup truck pulls a boat trailer though flood waters in LaPlace, Louisiana on Monday

Volunteers drive a high water truck to help evacuate people from homes after neighborhoods flooded in LaPlace, Louisiana

Floodwaters inundate a neighborhood in Kiln, Mississippi on Monday after Tropical Storm Ida ripped through the state