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Destruction in New Orleans: People are no longer allowed on the streets at night
Photo: Eric Gay / AP
Because of the massive power outages after Hurricane Ida in the US state of Louisiana, the city of New Orleans has temporarily imposed a night curfew.
Mayor Latoya Cantrell announced on Tuesday (local time) that this will apply from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The police justified the move with public safety.
So far, four deaths have been reported in Louisiana and the neighboring state of Mississippi as a result of the storm.
In view of the great damage, the authorities fear that the number of victims could increase.
"Ida" hit the Louisiana coast southwest of New Orleans on Sunday as a dangerous hurricane (magnitude four).
In the meantime, he weakened to the tropical low and moved via Mississippi to Tennessee on, as the National Hurricane Center (NHC) announced on Wednesday night.
Because of the widespread power outage in New Orleans, it is currently not safe on the streets at night, it said.
The police also want to prevent looting.
The blackout hits the city during the summer heat of all times, when most of the approximately 400,000 residents depend on electrical air conditioning.
High temperatures expected
Temperatures around 30 degrees were expected in the city, but because of the high humidity it could feel like 40 degrees, it said.
Citizens could cool off at various locations and in parked air-conditioned buses.
Across Louisiana, around one million households were still without electricity because of the storm damage.
Long lines formed at gas stations in many places in Louisiana.
People stood in line with canisters to get gasoline for generators at the pumps.
Elsewhere, photos showed dozens of cars waiting in long lines to fill their tanks.
Many gas stations in the region were closed - either because of storm damage or because they lacked the electricity to pump the gasoline.
In addition, many streets were still blocked by rubble, which is why gas stations could hardly get replenishment.
In the flood area, according to the media, helpers are also looking for a man who is said to have been attacked by an alligator. A man has been missing since Monday near the village of Slidell, who is said to have been attacked by an alligator and seriously injured. As the local sheriff's office announced, the 71-year-old's wife said the animal attacked him while he was walking through the flood waters in the vicinity of her home. An investigation is ongoing. According to the woman, her husband wanted to check something in the shed, police spokesman Lance Vitter told the local newspaper "The Times-Picayune".
The woman was therefore able to pull the man out of the water.
She then set off in a boat to get help.
When she returned with the police, the 71-year-old had disappeared.
The search was ongoing, it was said.
The house is located in a swamp area where alligators live.
A fire department spokesman spoke of the accident in the newspaper "USA Today" and on NBC News.
Sheriff Randy Smith called on residents to be extra vigilant in the flooded areas as wildlife could approach residential areas as a result of the storm.
ptz / dpa