Thousands face weeks without power in Ida’s aftermath

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana communities battered by Hurricane Ida are facing a new danger: the possibility of weeks without power in the stifling, late-summer heat. Ida ravaged the region’s power grid, leaving the entire city of New Orleans and hundreds of thousands of other Louisiana residents in the dark with no clear timeline on when power would return. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said 25,000 utility workers were in the state to help restore electricity, with more on the way. Still, his office described damage to the power grid as “catastrophic,” and power officials said it could be weeks before electricity is restored in some spots.