EXPLAINER: Ida similar to Katrina, but stronger, smaller

By SETH BORENSTEIN
Science Writer

Sure, Hurricane Ida looks an awful lot like Hurricane Katrina, bearing down on the same part of Louisiana on the same calendar date. But hurricane experts say there are differences in the two storms 16 years apart that may prove key and may make Ida nastier in some ways but less dangerous in others. Ida is smaller than 2005’s Katrina but it is more focused. Ida is also coming to the same general area from a slightly different angle that may put New Orleans and its Lake Pontchartrain in more of a bullseye than Katrina did.