🔴BREAKING! New Orleans evacuates as Hurricane Ida could strengthen to Cat 4 with 140 mph winds. Ida could make landfall as a Cat 4 hurricane on Sun when it hits the Gulf Coast w/ max winds of 140 mph, according to the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center. Biden declared a state of emergency in Louisiana on Fri afternoon, directing the Dept of Homeland Security & Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts. Mandatory evacuations are being ordered in Louisiana on Fri as Ida gains strength in the gulf. In a FB post, the Plaquemines Parish Government urged all residents to begin personal preparations warning that the mandatory evacuation would take effect at 3 p.m. ET for its entire East Bank and the West Bank from Phillips 66 Alliance Refinery to Venice. The National Hurricane Center said Ida -- which is pointed directly at New Orleans -- will reach 140 mph before making landfall in the Mississippi River delta late Sunday.