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WORLD> America
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Hurricane Ida weakens after killing 124
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-11-09 19:56 El Salvador's government said 124 people were killed as mudslides and floods swept away rudimentary houses. The bulk of the Central American country's coffee is grown in areas far from the worst affects of the flooding but the national coffee association had no estimate of potential damage to the harvest. Louisiana state of emergency The Miami-based hurricane center set a hurricane warning from Pascagoula, Mississippi, to Indian Pass, Florida, meaning hurricane conditions could be expected in the area within 24 hours.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency on Sunday, allowing the government to mobilize troops and rescue workers. If Ida makes landfall in Louisiana, it would be the first storm to strike the state since Hurricane Gustav came ashore in September 2008. At 4 am EST, the center of Ida was about 285 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and 375 miles south of Pensacola, Florida. Ida was expected to turn toward the north and move faster toward the Gulf Coast before veering off to the northeast on Tuesday. Ida swept past the Mexican resort of Cancun on Sunday, doing little damage to the city. Ida first became a hurricane on Thursday off the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, where heavy rains forced more than 5,000 people into shelters. The country's coffee crop was not directly affected by the storm, according to the local coffee council.
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