‘I feel abandoned’: New Orleanians swelter through days without power

Brutal heat follows wreckage of Hurricane Ida, with many residents unaware of city's offers of assistance

As the sun began to set on his third day without power, Kevin Johnson took a pause from the hard labour, sweat dripping from his face in the relentless humidity.

Hurricane Ida had torn through his home in the city's Lower Ninth Ward on Sunday evening, removing the front gable that lay collapsed in the yard. It busted the windows, took part off the roof and crumpled the back door as rainwater soaked the inside.