Ida Death Toll in Louisiana Rises to 26, Officials Say

The Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office confirmed Wednesday that 11 additional deaths have now been traced to Hurricane Ida. This raises the total count to 26, according to the state’s Department of Health. The majority of the newly identified dead, nine victims all over 60 years old, succumbed to excessive heat conditions during an extended power outage. Two others, a 24-year-old man and a 44-year-old man, died from carbon monoxide poisoning. Ida slammed into Louisiana on Aug. 29 as a Category 4 hurricane, blowing gales of 150 miles per hour. With these new identifications, the nation’s storm-related death toll will climb close to 80. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people across the country remain without power.