New Orleans survives Isaac fury but thousands evacuated, 2 dead
Source: Agencies |
August 31, 2012, Friday
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NEW Orleans' flood defenses appeared to withstand Hurricane Isaac, but thousands of people to the north and south of the city in Louisiana had to be evacuated or rescued as the storm edged inland from the United States Gulf Coast with whistling winds and constant rain. At least two deaths were reported.
The storm flooded neighborhoods in a rural part of the state and in neighboring Mississippi, and it left nearly half of Louisiana without power. The waters continued to rise, even as Isaac, now a tropical storm, meandered northward yesterday toward neighboring Arkansas.
The floodwaters "were shockingly fast-rising, from what I understand from talking to people", Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne said. "It caught everybody by surprise."
Many had assumed they could ride out Isaac, a lowest-category hurricane.
President Barack Obama declared federal emergencies in Louisiana and Mississippi, according to a statement from the White House, freeing up federal aid for affected areas.
Along the shores of Lake Ponchartrain just north of New Orleans, officials sent scores of vehicles to help evacuate about 3,000 people as rising waters lapped against houses. Floodwaters rose waist-high in some neighborhoods.
Isaac arrived exactly seven years after the devastating Hurricane Katrina and passed slightly to the west of New Orleans, where the city's newly fortified levee system, helped by US$14 billion in federal repairs, easily handled the assault. But low-lying areas outside the city were swamped.
"Hurricane Isaac has reinforced for us once again just how vulnerable these critical areas are," Democratic US Senator Mary Landrieu said.
One person was reported killed in New Orleans, compared with 1,800 deaths from Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi. And police reported few problems with looting. New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu ordered a dusk-to-dawn curfew.
A man was killed yesterday morning when a tree fell on his truck in Mississippi. Authorities said Isaac was causing heavy rain and strong winds at the time.
By early yesterday, Isaac's maximum sustained winds had decreased to 72 kilometers per hour and the National Hurricane Center said it was expected to become a tropical depression by night. Forecasters expected Isaac to move farther inland over the next several days, dumping rain on drought-stricken states across the US' midsection before finally breaking up over the weekend.
The storm flooded neighborhoods in a rural part of the state and in neighboring Mississippi, and it left nearly half of Louisiana without power. The waters continued to rise, even as Isaac, now a tropical storm, meandered northward yesterday toward neighboring Arkansas.
The floodwaters "were shockingly fast-rising, from what I understand from talking to people", Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne said. "It caught everybody by surprise."
Many had assumed they could ride out Isaac, a lowest-category hurricane.
President Barack Obama declared federal emergencies in Louisiana and Mississippi, according to a statement from the White House, freeing up federal aid for affected areas.
Along the shores of Lake Ponchartrain just north of New Orleans, officials sent scores of vehicles to help evacuate about 3,000 people as rising waters lapped against houses. Floodwaters rose waist-high in some neighborhoods.
Isaac arrived exactly seven years after the devastating Hurricane Katrina and passed slightly to the west of New Orleans, where the city's newly fortified levee system, helped by US$14 billion in federal repairs, easily handled the assault. But low-lying areas outside the city were swamped.
"Hurricane Isaac has reinforced for us once again just how vulnerable these critical areas are," Democratic US Senator Mary Landrieu said.
One person was reported killed in New Orleans, compared with 1,800 deaths from Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi. And police reported few problems with looting. New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu ordered a dusk-to-dawn curfew.
A man was killed yesterday morning when a tree fell on his truck in Mississippi. Authorities said Isaac was causing heavy rain and strong winds at the time.
By early yesterday, Isaac's maximum sustained winds had decreased to 72 kilometers per hour and the National Hurricane Center said it was expected to become a tropical depression by night. Forecasters expected Isaac to move farther inland over the next several days, dumping rain on drought-stricken states across the US' midsection before finally breaking up over the weekend.
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