with Jennifer Wadsworth | Assistant metro editorWell, here we go. With less than a day to go before landfall, all eyes are on Ida. Forecasters expect her to strike Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane, whipping the coast with 140 mph winds, a 15-foot storm surge and 2 feet of rain. That Ida's arrival came faster and fiercer than expected is disquieting in and of itself — all the more so since it roughly coincides with the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Laura and the 16th of Katrina. If predictions hold true, Ida could wallop the capital region harder than 2008's Gustav, another Category 4 whose winds knocked out power for weeks in some places. With the state already in the throes of another disaster, one that's straining hospitals with COVID-sick patients, officials urged people to stand ready the one on the horizon. "The implications of having a Category 4 storm with a southeastern strike while our hospitals are full is beyond what most people normally contemplate," Gov. John Bel Edwards said Friday, "and beyond what our normal plans are." He called the next 24 hours "very, very important," a time to stock up on food, water, medicine. For those who haven't already, it's also time to stock up on sandbags, which you can find at any of these locations in and around Baton Rouge. We also put together a running list of school and public agency closures, which you can find here. To see which local businesses are going dark for a few days, click here. In the weekend ahead, we'll be reporting on Ida's march. So be sure to bookmark our home page: theadvocate.com. And look out for our next update first thing Sunday morning. Stay safe out there! | 
