Over 100 shelter pets from Louisiana airlifted to New Castle County as Hurricane Ida looms

NEW CASTLE, Del. - Over 100 dogs and cats from a shelters in Louisiana arrived in New Castle County on Saturday as Hurricane Ida threatens to pummel New Orleans and surrounding areas in the coming days.

Officials from the Brandywine SPCA said most of the animals were airlifted out of harms way from Tangipahoa Parish Animal Shelter, which is located about 45 minutes away from New Orleans. 

A Wings of Rescue flight sponsored by Petco Love and the ASPCA landed Saturday afternoon at New Castle Airport. 

The rescued animals will be made adoptable at Brandywine Valley SPCA, local partners and an ASPCA partner in New England.

"Evacuating animals in the path of disasters is a lifesaving aspect of emergency response efforts because it gives homeless animals a second chance while freeing up resources for potentially displaced pets in impacted communities," said Susan Anderson, Director of Disaster Response for the ASPCA National Field Response Team.

Forecasters warned residents along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast to rush preparations Saturday ahead of an intensifying Hurricane Ida, which is expected to bring winds as high as 130 mph (209 kph), life-threatening storm surge and flooding rain when it slams ashore in Louisiana on Sunday.

Coastal highways saw heavy traffic as people moved to get out of the path of Ida, which the National Hurricane Center warned could grow to an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm. Trucks pulling saltwater fishing boats and campers streamed away from the coast Interstate 65 in south Alabama. Traffic jams clogged Interstate 10 heading out of New Orleans.

"We’re going to catch it head-on," said Bebe McElroy as she prepared to leave her home in the coastal Louisiana village of Cocodrie. "I’m just going around praying, saying, ‘Dear Lord, just watch over us.’"

Ida was poised to strike Louisiana 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts. A Category 3 storm, Katrina was blamed for 1,800 deaths and caused levee breaches and catastrophic flooding in New Orleans, which took years to recover.

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