Jemmye Carroll of The Challenge got her reality television start on The Real World: New Orleans season and still calls that city her home.
However, with the recent Hurricane Ida arriving there, Jemmye and many other residents were advised to evacuate the area before the storm made landfall.
Jemmye recently updated her fans online to let them know what’s going on with her as she decided whether or not to evacuate the area.
Hurricane Ida officially makes landfall in Louisiana
On Sunday, August 29, Hurricane Ida made landfall on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, per Intelligencer’s report.
In 2005, Katrina, a Category 5 hurricane, wreaked havoc on New Orleans and surrounding areas, causing over 1,800 deaths and an estimated $161 billion in damage.
Ida first made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 storm, which brought high winds, power outages, flash flood warnings, and the potential for major destruction in many areas.
On Sunday evening, ABC News provided an update that Hurricane Ida had become a Category 3 storm with “maximum sustained winds up to 125 MPH.”
Even at that level, there was still the potential for destructive damage to the area.
As the storm was making its way to the Gulf Coast area, mandatory evacuation orders were issued for various coastal areas under threat from the storm.
Once those evacuation orders arrived, many residents began trying to get to safety, with massive traffic jams caused due to the high flow of vehicles out of the affected areas.
Jemmye was going to ‘ride out’ storm, but chose to evacuate
The Challenge’s Jemmye Carroll lists her location as “NOLA” on her official Twitter page. She hails from Starkville, Mississippi, according to her Challenge Wiki page.
On Saturday, she had been contemplating whether she should remain in her home area as she said she was planning to ride out the storm.
However, as updated news of the storm’s intensity and potential for damage in the area arrived, The Challenge star decided to evacuate like many others.
She provided an update earlier on Saturday, letting her followers know she was stuck in traffic as she made her way to safety.
Hours later, Jemmye let everyone know that she had finally made it to Florida, despite waiting in a lot of traffic to get there. She thanked her followers for checking on her during the evacuation.
Even though Jemmye made it to safety, she also realizes many people are still in harm’s way as they endure the storm. She asked followers to send positive vibes to the area of New Orleans during Hurricane Ida.
“Y’all please send good vibes to NoLa. It’s going to be a long 24 hours,” she tweeted on Sunday.
Reports are continuing to arrive about Hurricane Ida via CNN’s live updates, indicating the storm remained a Category 4 storm for approximately six hours before becoming a Category 3 storm.
Per CNN’s report, a Category 3 storm has sustained winds between 111 and 129 miles per hour which can bring “devastating damage.”
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