Ida leaves the Louisiana coast in the dark, many without power in the midst of stifling heat – CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

NEW ORLEANS (CBSDFW / AP) – The Louisiana communities hit by Hurricane Ida are now struggling with the option of weeks without electricity in the stifling late summer heat.

Ida disrupted the area’s power grid, leaving 1 million people and businesses in Louisiana without power. The storm, now a tropical depression, fell on the state as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 250 km / h on Sunday, tearing the roofs of buildings and breaking power lines. The storm has been blamed for at least two deaths, but the Louisiana governor said the number is likely to rise in the coming days.

The entire city of New Orleans is dark and officials say they don’t know when power will return. New Orleans airport remained closed to commercial flights for a third day. At least four dead were blamed for the storm, including two people killed when Ida’s torrential rains washed up a highway in George County, Mississippi, and seven vehicles crashed into the 20-foot hole.