Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana Sunday afternoon as a dangerous and powerful Category 4 storm.
The storm quickly strengthened overnight as it approached land Sunday morning, and forecasters expect rapid weakening after it makes landfall.
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[LIVE LOOK: Cameras show changing conditions as Hurricane Ida approaches Louisiana]
The hurricane had maximum sustained winds of 150 mph with wind gusts of 185 mph. According to the National Hurricane Center, damaging winds will spread inland near Ida’s center into southwestern Mississippi Sunday night.
NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft captured video of the inside of the storm’s eye as it continued toward the coast.
Stunning video taken from inside the eye of #Ida this morning by the NESDIS Ocean Winds Research team during a flight on the @NOAA_HurrHunter P3 aircraft @NOAASatellites pic.twitter.com/sjt970Yeiq
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) August 29, 2021
Video from inside the plane shows a bumpy ride as the hurricane hunters make their way through the eyewall.
OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO - Flying into the eye of Category 4 Hurricane #Ida on NOAA WP-3D Orion #NOAA43 Miss Piggy during morning mission 08.29.21. Credit: Lt. Cmdr. Doremus, NOAA Corps. Visit https://t.co/JRMe4KQZfE for NOAA event resources. #FlyNOAA pic.twitter.com/STHD6mWwgd
— NOAA Aircraft Operations Center (@NOAA_HurrHunter) August 29, 2021