Local news team forced to flee as Hurricane Ida blows the roof of their building

Employees at WGNO-TV, a local news and weather station in New Orleans, Louisiana, were forced to evacuate the control room amid  live broadcas as the ceiling had started to “peel away” as Hurricane Ida pummelled the city, according to a tweet from WGNO journalist Susan Reosgen.

“@WGNOtv producers and directors forced to leave control room during our live coverage- the ceiling has peeled away— we are in the Galleria in Metairie,” Rosegen wrote at 8:30pm on Sunday, just a few hours after the storm made landfall in the region.

Around the same time, fellow WGNO reporter Chris Welty posted a picture of the ceiling in question having deteriorated.

About an hour later, Welty shared additional footage of the newsroom’s ceiling falling in. “Ceiling tiles are beginning to fall in our WGNO Newsroom. Multiple leaks and holes in our roof,” he wrote.

Sefenech Henok, another reporter at the station, posted additional videos of the wreckage in the newsroom. Henok’s clip reveals large portions of the ceiling falling into the room as water leaks through. Ten trashcans can be seen gathered under the leaks, clearly an attempt to help gather the water and keep the floor dry.

“Even with the damage, WGNO continues to provide wall-to-wall coverage of Hurricane Ida and its aftermath,” WGNO reported.

As of Monday morning, over 1 million Louisiana residents were still without power, and four flash flood emergency warnings remain in place across the state. Thousands of National Guard members have since been activated to assist with hurricane relief efforts in the region.