As Hurricane Ida made landfall August 29, 2021 officials in Tangipahoa parish took shelter.

"It was almost midnight when it got there and it lasted until five o'clock in the morning. Pretty consistent, high winds," Parish President Robby Miller said.

"I don't want to do it again," Ponchatoula mayor Robert Zabbia said.

After the eye passed, residents found trees and power lines down everywhere.

"If you moved around in a 2-3 mile radius, that's what the whole parish looked like," Miller said.

"We'll see the results of Ida for years to come," Zabbia said.

Mayor Zabbia says downed trees and power lines were cleaned off the roads within days.

"We lined up some contractors prior to the storm, just as we had done in Katrina, to be able to help us clean the roadways," Zabbia said.

The mayor says the city's hurricane plan will remain the same for the upcoming season, but Parish President Robby Miller says leaders learned some important lessons learned during Ida.

"We could hardly get out because there were trees everywhere. We're looking at our plan to be able to disperse some equipment and people throughout the parish" Miller said.

Ida displaced hundreds of families in surrounding parishes, and Miller hopes a stand-alone shelter could be set up in the future.

"Unfortunately our solution will take a little longer than this hurricane season, as far as building a facility to be able to handle more evacuees at one time until FEMA can get in here and provide housing," Miller said.

For now, officials warn community members to be ready for anything and urge families to get their hurricane plans in place as the season begins.