Ida now headed in a westerly track

I had fun teasing my brother Friday who lives in the Florida Panhandle in a little town called Niceville that he better spend his weekend boarding up because of the approaching hurricane.
I guess the joke is on me now.
Monday evening, Ida was located about 40 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and about 125 miles south-southwest of Pensacola. It was moving north-northwest near 17 mph (28 kph) and was expected to make land late Monday or early Tuesday.
It's going to miss him by quite a bit.
Ida had been the third hurricane of this year's Atlantic season.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said it was expected to weaken further before making landfall along the Gulf Coast. Rain was already falling along the coastline and winds had kicked up the surf.

Jennifer Rich
Herald business editor