Hurricane Ida could hit New Orleans harder than Katrina because it is approaching city from 'even worse' angle on 16th anniversary of storm that killed 1,800

Hurricane Ida may pummel New Orleans with more rain than Hurricane Katrina and target more of Louisiana's industrial corridor because of the new storm's smaller size and angle of impact.

Ida's high wind speed - currently expected to land at 155 mph, just two miles off a category 5 hurricane - and threatened storm surges of up to 16 feet are drawing comparisons to 2005's Katrina, which killed 1,833 people and left damage of $176 billion in today's dollars when it hit exactly 16 years ago.

The two storms' wind speeds are similar, but Ida's smaller size means it's likely to be a stronger storm that will cause more localized damage, as opposed to the larger, more spread out Katrina.

Ida will hit New Orleans at an angle that will put the most dangerous part of any storm - the northeastern or top-right quadrant - right above the city.

Ida's 'angle is potentially even worse,' University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy told CBS News. 'It's not going to as easily create a huge storm surge ... but the angle that this is coming in, I think is more conducive to pushing water into the lake .' 

Ida will hit New Orleans at an angle that will put the city under the storm's most dangerous part

A man walks down a barren and boarded up Bourbon Street as the city braces for Ida Sunday

A news crew reports on the edge of Lake Pontchartrain, a huge estuary above New Orleans, on Sunday ahead of Hurricane Ida. The lake is expected to take in a lot of water from the storm

Ida is expected to bring less storm surge but more rain. Above, cars drive through flooded water on Route, 90 in Gulfport, Mississippi on Sunday

Ida's picking up warm waters, which fuel a storm, from the 'Loop Current' in the Gulf of Mexico

Pontchartrain is the large 630 sq mi estuary directly above downtown New Orleans.

Current Ida projections put its storm surge at 12 to 16 feet, lower than the 20 feet in parts of the Mississippi coast during Katrina, but Ida may bring in more rain, with estimates ranging from eight to 16 inches compared to the five to 10 brought by Katrina, according to the National Hurricane Center. 

That dramatically increases the risk of flash floods.  

Ida has now been upgraded to a Category 4 storm with 150 mph winds, according to the Associated Press. Katrina hit New Orleans as a Category 3 storm with 125 mph winds. 

Thankfully, New Orleans' updated and reinforced levee system is expected to protect it from the same fate it suffered in 2005, when images of people waiting for rescue on their roofs as their houses sat flooded beneath them were seen around the world.

The storm is expected to land tonight. Above, two women walk in New Orleans Sunday

Ida's expected rainfall of eight to 16 inches may bring a storm surge of 12 to 16 feet. Above, a man photographs the flood waters at the Port Gulfport Marina in Mississippi

Ida's strength will also be turbocharged by the warm waters of the 'Loop Current' in the Gulf of Mexico, and the crosswinds that weakened Katrina are not being seen for Ida. 

'This has the potential to be more of a natural disaster whereas the big issue in Katrina was more of a man-made one' because of levee failures,' University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy told CBS News. 

The angle at which Ida is hitting New Orleans also threatens to target Louisiana's capital Baton Rouge and the industrial corridor between that city and New Orleans, known for its French and Spanish Creole culture, nightlife and annual Mardi Gras celebrations.

' is forecast to track over the industrial corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, which is one of the key infrastructure regions of the U.S., critical to the economy.

'There's hundreds of major industry sites there I mean petrochemical sites, three of the 15 largest ports in America, a nuclear power plant,' said meteorologist and Weather Underground founder Jeff Masters. 

2005's Hurricane Katrina, which was weaker when it made landfall in New Orleans exactly 16 years ago, killed more than 1,800 people and caused $176 billion in damage

Much of Katrina's damage was blamed on New Orleans' levees, which have been upgraded

'You're probably going to shut down the Mississippi River for barge traffic for multiple weeks.'

The industrial corridor is sometimes called 'Cancer Alley' due to the numerous deaths allegedly caused by the more than 140 chemical factories and oil refineries in the area, according to NPR.

'It's not just the coastal impact. It's not just New Orleans,' said meteorologist Steve Bowen, head of global catastrophe insight at the risk and consulting firm Aon. 'We're certainly looking at potential losses well into the billions.'