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As Hurricane Ida makes landfall in Louisiana, already more than 100,000 people have been left without power. The extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane is bearing down, bringing with it gusts of wind reaching 150 mph.
On Sunday, August 29, at 10 a.m. CDT, the National Hurricane Center predicted, "Ida will continue to produce heavy rainfall today through Monday across the central Gulf Coast from southeast Louisiana, coastal Mississippi, and far southwestern Alabama." Hurricane Ida's landfall would result "in considerable to life-threatening flash and urban flooding and significant river flooding impacts." The center continued, warning the rains of Ida, and possible flooding, would reach to the Tennessee Valley, the Upper Ohio Valley, the Central Appalachians and the Mid-Atlantic by Wednesday.
As we think of those who will be impacted by the storm, we turn to prayer.
O God, Master of this passing world, hear the humble voices of your children. The Sea of Galilee obeyed your order and returned to its former quietude; you are still the Master of land and sea. We live in the shadow of a danger over which we have no control. The Gulf, like a provoked and angry giant, can awake from its seeming lethargy, overstep its conventional boundaries, invade our land and spread chaos and disaster. During this hurricane season, we turn to You, O loving Father. Spare us from past tragedies whose memories are still so vivid and whose wounds seem to refuse to heal with the passing of time. O Virgin, Star of the Sea, Our Beloved Mother, we ask you to plead with your Son in our behalf, so that spared from the calamities common to this area and animated with a true spirit of gratitude, we will walk in the footsteps of your Divine Son to reach the heavenly Jerusalem where a storm-less eternity awaits us. Amen.
Composed by Father Al Volpe, Cameron Parish, Louisiana (available on the website of the Archdiocese of New Orleans)
