Hurricane Ida makes landfall in US' Louisiana as Category 4 storm

Hurricane Ida made landfall as an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm on Sunday afternoon (local time), according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

"Ida made landfall as an extremely dangerous category 4 hurricane near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph and a minimum central pressure of 930 mb," NHC said in a tweet.

Ida was elevated to a Category 4 storm early Sunday, hours before making landfall.

The NHC said earlier that the storm was "expected to be an extremely major hurricane when it makes landfall," adding that "rapid weakening" would likely happen afterwards.

The storm was travelling northwest at 15 mph in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Ida's landfall comes exactly 16 years after Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana, leaving the state grappling with extensive damage.

Bands of heavy rain containing strong wind gusts are spreading into the northern Gulf Coast as far east as the Florida Panhandle.

( With inputs from ANI )