Hurricane Ida pummels US state of Louisiana

Powerful Hurricane Ida has battered the southern US state of Louisiana and plunged New Orleans into darkness, leaving at least one person dead 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city. Ida slammed into the Louisiana coast as a Category 4 storm but had weakened to a Category 1 by Sunday night. President Joe Biden, who described Ida as “a life-threatening storm,” declared Louisiana a huge disaster area.