Dallas, TX Dodge Ida's Fury; A Million New Orleanians Couldn't

DALLAS, TX —A hurricane severe enough to make Gulf Coast residents forget Katrina roared ashore Sunday, leaving the entire city of New Orleans in the dark and a million people without power. That the storm turned east instead of plunging west means that Texans are unlikely to even see rain from the storm.

Ida was so powerful that its deluge of rain actually reversed the flow of the Mississippi River.

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While Texas' neighbors to the east take stock in the millions of dollars of damage and lost property, the Monday forecast in Dallas calls for sunny skies and warm temperatures with a high in the low 90s — typical end-of-August fare.

Help is on the way to Louisiana from Dallas, as some two dozen volunteers and their emergency vehicles from the local non-profit Dallas Baptist Men are setting out for the storm-stricken coast this morning. Their destinations remain uncertain, but will be reached as they arrive to determine where they might be needed most.

Among their most valuable contributions: a portable kitchen with the capacity to feed 30,000 meals a day.

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