GEORGETOWN, Maine — As of Monday, Hurricane Ida has wiped out power to hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana, including all of New Orleans. There is damage, flooding, and widespread search and rescue missions underway as Ida continues to move inland, now as a tropical depression.
While the storm won't bring nearly the same level of physical impact to Maine this week, there are people in our state who are closely connected to the situation in Louisiana.
For the past few days, New Orleans residents Rob and Anne Gardiner have been anxiously awaiting updates on the storm from their summer home in Georgetown, Maine.
Their daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren were in New Orleans when the storm hit.
"I didn't hear from our family down there until maybe 9 o'clock this morning," Anne said. "There's very limited communication."
Anne also said her daughter is limiting the use of her phone, and therefore communication, in order to save her device's battery amid the power outages.
The decision their daughter and son-in-law made to stay in New Orleans was a mix of personal and professional.
"Our son-in-law Scott Tucker is a physician there and he was on call this weekend when the storm hit," Anne said. "There are also risks if you leave your home. For instance, in Katrina, their house was looted."
Fortunately, their New Orleans home and that of their kids' stayed mostly intact.
Rob said, "We now know they're safe and we know the house didn't get the roof blown off. What we're worried about is the length of time they may be stuck without power."
On Monday, New Orleans and much of Louisiana remain in the dark as crews work to restore power.
"If you go for more than a week, you run out of food, you run out of everything, you run out of patience," Rob said.
Central Maine Power officials said the company will be sending crews down to Louisiana to assist with the effort to restore power, most likely Tuesday morning.
Officials with Versant Power said at this point the power company is not sending workers, but that is subject to change.
Meanwhile, the northern New England branch of the Red Cross is working to make sure no one in affected regions goes hungry. Two trucks filled with food and supplies left Maine for the southern states on Sunday.
Red Cross volunteer Jeff Ohman said the best thing people can do to help is to donate.
If you'd like to make a donation to the Red Cross' Hurricane Ida relief effort there are a few options:
- Visit www.redcross.org/nne
- Call1-800-RED-CROSS
- Mail to our local chapter office: American Red Cross, 2401 Congress St. Portland, ME 04102