Emergency Response to Hurricane Ida

This will be our final update as International Medical Corps’ emergency response to Hurricane Ida draws to a close.

To continue supporting International Medical Corps, please visit our “Emergency Response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19)” project to learn about our global response to the pandemic.

Learn more about our Coronavirus response here: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-the-coronavirus-2019-ncov/ 

On August 29, Hurricane Ida—a deadly and destructive Category 4 storm—made landfall near Port Fourchon in Louisiana’s Lafourche Parish, located on the Gulf of Mexico. Ida is the second most damaging hurricane on record to strike the state, ranking only behind Hurricane Katrina, and is tied for the strongest landfall in the state, with maximum wind speeds of 150 miles per hour. Throughout its path of destruction in Louisiana, more than a million people were left without power. The damage to the power grid was so severe that it took weeks to repair—particularly in hard-hit areas like Houma in Terrebonne Parish, where residents were without electricity for more than a month.

Making matters worse, the storm occurred just as the state was experiencing its fourth COVID-19 surge. Hospitals and healthcare facilities across the state were near full capacity. Intensive care units (ICUs) in Louisiana were about 88% full and nearly half were all COVID-19 patients according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

On September 8, International Medical Corps deployed a team to Houma to meet with local non-governmental organizations, first responders and residents affected by the storm.

Given the damage to local healthcare facilities, local groups deployed physicians and nurses to go door to door, to address medical needs. International Medical Corps partnered with the Cajun Commissary and United Way of South Louisiana in Houma to procure and distribute critically needed supplies, including hygiene items (such as toothpaste, deodorant, diapers and baby wipes), wound-care kits, basic first-aid supplies, pharmaceuticals, face masks and solar lanterns to support door-to-door medical visits. These visits are particularly beneficial for marginalized communities, including the elderly and undocumented.

According to Tiffany, Founder of Cajun Commissary, “It doesn’t take that many resources if we are working together to get the right things to the right place at the right time.”

International Medical Corps is grateful to GlobalGiving and its community of donors for raising awareness of our response efforts Hurricane Ida. Together, we can help get the resources to the communities that need them most.