with Matthew Albright | Assistant metro editor
We're starting to make some progress. After Hurricane Ida, some restaurants, grocery stores and other businesses are opening up. And the interstates are back open, though state officials are urging people to leave them open for first responders if they can. But we still have a long way to go. Power was still out for most of the area, with no estimates for when it might come back, and traffic piled up behind darkened traffic signals. Schools and government agencies said they were staying closed — some at least through the end of the week. Many local governments kept nighttime curfews in place. And people facing trees in houses and other wind damage were starting to try and figure out what kind of help they might be able to get. The scale of the disruptions is a testament to just how fearsome a storm Ida was — by the time its winds died down below hurricane strength, it had already left Louisiana. We'll be bringing you more information as we get it. Stay safe out there. | 
