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Terrifying videos show trees falling on homes, roofs blown off during Hurricane Ida

Reports said four 'mesovortices' were seen rotating around the outer portion of Ida’s eye, typically associated with extreme, tornadic-like winds

On Sunday afternoon, August 29, Hurricane Ida arrived in Louisiana as a monster Category 4 storm that resulted in a number of damages. Videos taken across the state showed damaged roofs and uprooted trees; some of them even fell on houses causing further damage. Reports said "mesovortices" were seen rotating around the outer portion of Ida’s eye. "These distinct eyewall mesovortices (little filaments inside the typically circular eye) of Hurricane Ida are remarkable, and especially dangerous," tweeted Michael Lowry, a strategic planner and atmospheric scientist with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "Mesovortices are often associated with extreme, tornadic-like winds, one of many reasons you should never venture out during the eye," his tweet added. A scientist from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Dan Lindsey tweeted, “I count 4 mesovortices rotating around the outer portion of #Ida's eye, evident in the low cloud field. And the eye is now *completely over land*! I don't think I've seen this before with a storm over land. #GOES16.”

As the storm made landfall in Louisiana, people were asked to shelter in place immediately. They were instructed to take protective measures and hide inside an interior room or a small room with no windows and stay put during this time. As per reports, a woman was sleeping inside her home when a tree fell over her house. However, the woman did not get hurt because of that. Field Weather Reporter for The Weather Channel, Charles Peek, shared the video on Twitter and wrote, “Large tree uprooted and topped onto home in Morgan City, LA. Woman was asleep when it hit her house. She is fine. @weatherchannel @StephanieAbrams #HurricaneIda #Tropics.”

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A few more videos shared on the Internet showed trees being uprooted by the strong winds and falling on homes. Footage also showed Hurricane Ida taking off the roof of Lady of the Sea hospital in Galliano while another one presented the horrific scenes Ida had caused in Golden Meadow. However, by Sunday evening, Ida has been declared a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds up to 125 MPH.

Several people took to Twitter to share their thoughts and experiences over the storm. A user tweeted, “This storm took longer than normal to weaken after crossing the ‘shore’ likely due to the area being largely covered by warm water. The eye therefore remained clear of high clouds longer than normal and we could see the low-level vortices hours after landfall.” Another one wrote, “Some trees in very low lying areas have very shallow root structures bc of the water table. It isn’t uncommon for trees to be uprooted during such a strong storm.” “Wow, praying for the people in this storm’s path,” the third one added.

Meanwhile, other than these videos, footage of a meteorologist, Al Roker, has also gone viral on the internet. In the video, the 67-year-old was seen reporting live from Louisiana while dealing with the strong winds and rain. During a segment on NBC's 'Meet the Press', Roker was seen standing completely drenched as the situation seemed dangerous outside.

Commenting on the video, a user said, “WHY DID Y'ALL HAVE HIM STATIONED AS IF IT WERE A LIGHT BREEZE STORM PRETENDING TO BE A CAT5 THO ffs it ain't funny when it's actual danger.” The second one wrote, “Why is this still a thing? Is anything helped by sticking near-elderly weathermen out into a hurricane that you're supposed to be evacuated from? This is stupid and dangerous for no reason at all.” “Hey, it seems like putting your beloved weather guy out in the storm sends a message to viewers that the storm isn’t that bad and it’s safe to be outside in it. But I’m sure you’ve considered that thoroughly, so perhaps you’d like to explain why this isn’t wildly irresponsible,” a tweet added.