Ida-Wrecked Power Grid Could Boost Infrastructure Bill Support

Hurricane Ida wrecked transmission lines and left New Orleans in darkness, but infrastructure advocates see an opportunity in the destruction for the region to rebuild a grid that’s more resilient to the increasingly violent storms from the warming waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

“If we are going to make our country more resilient to natural disasters wherever they are we have to start preparing now,” Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy said on CNBC. “We can’t look in the rear view mirror and say ‘boy I wish we were prepared.’”

Hurricane Ida, which packed some of the most powerful winds ...