STORM WATCH

Hurricane Ida Death Toll Climbs to at Least 5

A highway collapse and a falling tree are just two of the incidents that have led officials to link five deaths to the tropical storm.

At least five people have now died as a result of Hurricane Ida, according to The New York Times. Officials confirmed the deaths of a man driving in floodwaters in New Orleans, an elderly woman found dead in the seaside village of Jean Lafitte, and a man in Prairieville whose house was crushed by a falling tree. Two others were killed when a Mississippi highway collapsed; 10 more were reportedly injured in the accident, with at least 3 people still in critical condition. A sixth person is presumed dead—a man, in his seventies, missing after being attacked by an alligator while attempting to wade through floodwaters outside his home. Although Ida has been downgraded to a tropical depression after initially making landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Monday that he expects the death toll to rise “considerably.”