Two people were killed and 10 others were injured after part of a Mississippi highway washed away in heavy rains brought on by Hurricane Ida.
The incident happened Monday night along the two-lane Highway 26 in George County, near the town of Lucedale. Of the 10 injured, three are in critical condition.
Seven vehicles plunged into the hole, which is about 50-feet wide and 20-feet deep, according to the Mississippi Highway Patrol.
Trooper Cal Robertson said the washout was likely related to rain from Hurricane Ida, which was downgraded to a tropical depression as it hit Mississippi. Flash flooding was reported across the state, with the Lucedale area getting up to 13 inches of rain at a rate of 2-3 inches per hour, according to the National Weather Service.
"I've never seen anything in my 23 years in law enforcement like this," Robertson told CNN.
Brianna Hollis, a reporter with WKRG TV Mobile, posted video of vehicles being pulled from the ditch of the collapsed road.
"This is grim, it's heartbreaking, it's scary," she wrote on Twitter. "I can't imagine being in a situation like that. Just more devastation stemming from Ida."
The Mississippi Department of Transportation is still assessing the damages and making a determination as to when the roadway will reopen for travel.
Ida made landfall Sunday as a Category 4 hurricane with 150 mile per hour winds -- 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina, which left more than 1,800 people dead.
Ida is one of the most powerful hurricanes to ever hit the U.S. It caused widespread power outages across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Residents in the hardest-hit areas of Louisiana are expected to be without power for weeks, utility officials said Monday. At least two deaths were reported as the storm battered the state. A third death may also be related to the storm -- a 71-year-old man who is presumed dead after being attacked by an alligator in floodwaters.
Ida weakened to a tropical depression as it moved over to Mississippi late Monday, drenching the state with torrential downpours and sustained winds of 35 miles per hour.
Ida is now moving toward the northeast at a speed around 10 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. It is forecast to track across the Middle Tennessee Valley, Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic through Wednesday.
Forecasters say total rainfall accumulations of 10 to 18 inches with isolated maximum amounts of 24 inches are expected. Flood and Flash Flood Watches extend from the Gulf Coast region across the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys, central and southern Appalachians, and into the Mid-Atlantic.
