The Louisiana governor says it’s too soon for those who fled Hurricane Ida to come home, as the storm left more than a million homes and businesses without power.
Some families that evacuated to Atlanta are looking for resources to help as hotel and food costs begin to add up.
One such evacuee is Zella Palmer, who escaped from New Orleans to Atlanta with her family one day before the storm hit.
Palmer’s husband, having lived through Hurricane Katrina, expected the damage to have an extended impact.
"It’s PTSD, it landed on the same day as Hurricane Katrina," she said. "For a lot of people, this is triggering. You don’t know what’s gonna happen. The loss of life, the loss of damage."
Officials are calling the damage to the area catastrophic and some of the worst they’ve ever seen, with flooding, walls crumbled, and roofs stripped bare.
Luckily, Palmer's home had minor damage but power outages could last for weeks in the midst of scorching heat. The national weather service even issued a heat advisory Tuesday for Southern Louisana and Mississippi.
Despite leaving the brunt of the storm, she says resources have been tough to come by.
"It’s been expensive. We asked for an evacuee discount, but the manager told us no. We were trying to find resources in Atlanta to see if we could get any type of relief," she said.
The Atlanta Mayor’s office says the Red Cross is coordinating resources and assistance for evacuees.
So far, Palmer has not been able to connect, but she is grateful they made the choice to evacuate when they did.
"We’re just going to continue to lift our spirits up and go back and rebuild because we believe it’s the best city in the world," she said.
American Red Cross of Georgia
The Red Cross is focused on providing safe shelter, meals, and comfort to people in need.
Sunday night, more than 2,500 people sought refuge in some 60 Red Cross and community shelters across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.
Anyone in the affected area that needs a safe place to stay should call 211, visit redcross.org, call 1- 800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767) or download the free Red Cross Emergency App for shelter locations. You can also text LASHELTER to 898-211 or NOLAREADY to 77295.
To help people affected by Hurricane Ida, visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS, or text the word IDA to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
Home Depot Foundation
The Atlanta-based Home Depot Foundation has boots on the ground as well, working with partners like Convoy of Hope, Operation Blessing, Team Rubicon, and All Hands and Hearts. They hope to distribute 150,000 pounds of food and 700 disaster clean-up kits.