Cayman Islands

On August 26, 2021, the Cayman Islands were put under a Tropical Storm Warning. With the expectation of a
landfall or near landfall on Grand Cayman, schools and businesses were closed, and the government had fully
activated the NEOC and the Emergency Services, in addition to deploying the Cayman Islands Regiment and
Cayman Islands Coast Guard for the HADR and SAR operations. Many people piled into grocery stores and
hardware stores to grab supplies having Hurricane Grace that hit Cayman just a week earlier fresh in
everyone's minds. Cayman Airways cancelled some of its flights and rescheduled them for a later day. The
utility company had announced that they were planning on little to no power outages.[35][36][37]

Cuba

On August 28, 800 individuals, including teachers and students

monitoring turtles on the Guanahacabibes Peninsula, were evacuated
due to Ida, according to the head of civil defense in the area.[38] La
Palma also sheltered 6,281 people from the storm.[39]

United States

Tornado watches were issued for parts of Louisiana, Alabama, and

Mississippi on August 29. The Storm Prediction Center issued a 5%
tornado risk the same day for the 3 states, which included an overall
slight risk.[40][41] Over 16 ft (4.9 m) of storm surge was anticipated for
Louisiana, 6–9  ft (1.8–2.7  m) for Mississippi, 3–5  ft (0.91–1.52  m) for
Alabama, and 1–3 ft (0.30–0.91 m) for Florida.[42] A high risk for flash
flooding was issued on August 29, encompassing much of New Orleans
and surrounding areas.[43] A widespread area of 15–20  in (380–
510  mm) of rainfall was forecasted the day Ida made landfall.[44] Hurricane Ida over western Cuba late
Approximately 95% of U.S. oil production in the Gulf of Mexico was shut on August 27
down.[45]

Louisiana

On August 27, the preseason NFL football game for the Arizona Cardinals
and New Orleans Saints, originally scheduled for the next day at Caesars
Superdome, was cancelled due to the storm's forecast of being a major
hurricane at the time of its landfall. Before this, the game's start was
moved to noon CDT from the originally scheduled 7  PM CDT.[46][47][48]
Governor John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency in response to
the storm.[49] On August 28, New Orleans mayor LaToya Cantrell issued a
mandatory evacuation for all parts of the city which are outside of its flood
The Louisiana National Guard
making preparations for the storm
protections area.[50] That same day, President Joe Biden signed an
emergency declaration for Louisiana ahead of the storm.[51]

In a briefing that was held on August 28, one day prior to landfall,
Edwards anticipated Ida to be one of the strongest hurricanes to affect the state since the 1850s.[52] The
Governor also mentioned the levee system in New Orleans, saying Ida "will be the most severe test of that
system". This comes after the 2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans due to Katrina.[53] The state's
hospitals' capacities were of concern, due to them already being pushed to near full capacity from the COVID-
19 surge that was ongoing at the time. Victims of Ida were expected to fill hospitals in affected areas.[54]

Mississippi

In Mississippi, at least 15 school districts and universities were ordered to close on Monday, August 30, along
with a dozen casinos ahead of the impact of the storm.[55] Entergy Mississippi expected significant damage to
the system in the Jackson metropolitan area.[56]