Hurricane Ida: President Biden calls 'major disaster' after New Orleans loses power

About 5,000 National Guard members have arrived in New Orleans to help with the search and rescue mission there.

It's after Hurricane Ida hit on Sunday, cutting power to more than one million people in the US state of Louisiana.

In addition, more than 25,000 workers from around the country are working to try and restore power in the state

The city of New Orleans has no power at all, with emergency generators are the only way people have been able to get any kind of electricity.

US President Joe Biden declared a "major disaster" and said it could take weeks to restore supplies.

He has released extra funds for rescue and recovery efforts.

Ida made landfall on Sunday with 150mph (240km/h) winds, the fifth strongest to ever hit the US mainland. About one million locals remain without power.

It was originally declared a category four storm which means people should expect it to cause severe damage to buildings, trees and power lines.

It has now been downgraded to a category one, with its winds dropping to 95mph as it moved inland.

European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet took this photo of Hurricane Ida on Sunday from the International Space Station

People who had not left the area in advance were advised to take shelter.

In a tweet, the US National Weather Service (NWS) told New Orleans residents: "Go to an interior room or a small room with no windows. Stay put during this time."

So far one person has died. More than 90% of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut down.

High winds tore part of the roof off a hospital in the town of Cut Off, Louisiana, just inland from the Gulf of Mexico.

A building's roof is blown off in the French Quarter of New Orleans

Normally, hospitals in the predicted path of the hurricane would be evacuated, but this time due to the impact of covid-19 there are few beds available at other hospitals.

The hospital said it had suffered "significant damage" but that its patients were safe.

Hurricane Ida has hit the state on the same date as Hurricane Katrina did 16 years earlier.

The streets of New Orleans were all but deserted on Sunday

In 2005 Hurricane Katrina killed 1,800 people across Louisiana and Mississippi.

Since then, billions of dollars have been spent on flood defences, and it's thought they could now be put to the test by Hurricane Ida.

So far they seem to be working although there is a flash flood warning in place for New Orleans.

"The systems we depended on to save lives and protect our city did just that and we are grateful, but there is so much more work to be done," said New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell on Monday.

Hurricane Ida left a trail of devastation in its wake

She urged residents who had already evacuated their homes to stay put and not return until power and communications have been restored.

As the slow-moving Ida continues to move inland, it has weakened to a tropical storm - but the National Hurricane Centre warned that heavy rain could still bring flooding to parts of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

State Governor John Bel Edwards said that "the coming days and weeks are going to be extremely difficult" but that as a state Louisiana has never been more prepared.