Ida - Monday Morning Update

NPR has a useful and fairly comprehensive update this morning on Hurricane Ida. The short of it is this --

• Ida is weakening. It's a category 1 storm, and expected to weaken further before landfall.
  
• The center of the storm is expected to hit the shore late tonight, well after dark.
• "Hurricane warnings remained in effect from Pascagoula, Miss., east to Indian Pass, Fla."
• Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency (which means he is demanding more of that federal stimulus money he so likes to criticize.)
• Dauphin Island and Mobile look to be in the bullseye.
• "Residents of Pensacola Beach, Fla., and nearby Perdido Key were encouraged to leave, as were people farther inland who live in mobile homes... ."
• Two hours east of Pensacola, at Point Marina in Panama City, Steve Arndt's gut is telling him "it probably won't be that bad." But there's not much of a gut on that guy, so it's hard to tell if he knows what his stomach is rumbling.