Photo: Mississippi Highway Patrol
Two people are dead and at least 10 injured after a portion of a Mississippi highway washed away near Lucedale, Mississippi, Monday night (August 30), CNN reports.
Mississippi Highway Patrol Cp. Cal Robertson confirmed that seven vehicles, including a motorcycle, went into a 20-feet-deep hole after the two-lane roadway washed away on Highway 26 in George County, per AP. A crane was brought in to help lift the vehicles out. Robertson said the incident was likely related to Hurricane Ida, raising the death toll of the powerful storm to four.
"I've never seen anything in my 23 years in law enforcement like this," he said.
CNN reports that Mississippi had seen up to 13 inches of rain since Ida made landfall in Louisiana on Sunday (August 29) as a dangerous Category 4 hurricane. By Monday night, however, the area was getting about 2 inches of rain per hour. The onslaught of heavy rain led to flash flooding in the area, which likely swept away the highway.
Three people were critically injured in the collapse, and two people lost their lives. At least two people in Louisiana were killed by the impacts of Hurricane Ida. One person in Baton Rouge died after a tree fell onto a residence, while one New Orleans resident drowned.