Louisiana governor declares emergency ahead of Storm Ida

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has declared a state of emergency ahead of Tropical Storm Ida. He warned Thursday that all of the state’s coast is in the forecast cone of what could become a major hurricane in coming days. Edwards called on residents to immediately begin storm preparations. He added the emergency declaration is an administrative step that authorizes use of state resources to aid in storm response efforts. The National Hurricane Center says Ida has top sustained winds of 40 mph and is set to become a hurricane when it nears western Cuba on Friday, then approach the northern Gulf Coast at or near major hurricane intensity Sunday.