Power cut, flooding as Isaac rains down
Source: Agencies |
September 1, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
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THE storm that had been Hurricane Isaac crawled into the central US yesterday, leaving behind a soggy mess in Louisiana and two newly reported deaths.
Neighborhoods were underwater, and even homes that stayed dry didn't have lights, air conditioning or clean water.
It will be a few days before the soupy brown water recedes and people in flooded areas can return home. New Orleans itself was spared, thanks in large part to a levee system fortified after Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005.
The city lifted its curfew but was hardly back to normal.
"I have a battery-operated fan. This is the only thing keeping me going," said Rhyn Pate, a food services worker who sat on a porch with other renters. "And a fly swatter to keep the bugs off me - and the most important thing, insect repellent."
Isaac dumped 406 millimeters of rain in some areas, and about 500 people had to be rescued by boat or high-water vehicles. Many people said more water inundated their homes during this storm than during Katrina.
At least five deaths were reported in Louisiana and Mississippi. The latest two victims, a man and a woman, were discovered on late Thursday in a home in the hard-hit town of Braithwaite, south of New Orleans. Their names were not released.
An unidentified man died in a restaurant blaze that firefighters could not control because of Isaac's strong winds on Wednesday. Another man died falling from a tree during the storm, and a driver was killed when a tree crushed his truck. The storm earlier killed 24 in Haiti and five in the Dominican Republic.
And the storm's damage may not be done. Officials were pumping water from a reservoir to ease the pressure behind an Isaac-stressed dam in Mississippi on the Louisiana border. They planned to punch a hole in the dam to release excess water in a controlled fashion yesterday.
Crews also intentionally breached a levee that was strained by Isaac's floodwaters in southeast Louisiana's Plaquemines Parish.
In Louisiana, the storm cut power to 901,000 homes and businesses, or about 47 percent of the state. Officials said it would be at least two days before power was fully restored.
Neighborhoods were underwater, and even homes that stayed dry didn't have lights, air conditioning or clean water.
It will be a few days before the soupy brown water recedes and people in flooded areas can return home. New Orleans itself was spared, thanks in large part to a levee system fortified after Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005.
The city lifted its curfew but was hardly back to normal.
"I have a battery-operated fan. This is the only thing keeping me going," said Rhyn Pate, a food services worker who sat on a porch with other renters. "And a fly swatter to keep the bugs off me - and the most important thing, insect repellent."
Isaac dumped 406 millimeters of rain in some areas, and about 500 people had to be rescued by boat or high-water vehicles. Many people said more water inundated their homes during this storm than during Katrina.
At least five deaths were reported in Louisiana and Mississippi. The latest two victims, a man and a woman, were discovered on late Thursday in a home in the hard-hit town of Braithwaite, south of New Orleans. Their names were not released.
An unidentified man died in a restaurant blaze that firefighters could not control because of Isaac's strong winds on Wednesday. Another man died falling from a tree during the storm, and a driver was killed when a tree crushed his truck. The storm earlier killed 24 in Haiti and five in the Dominican Republic.
And the storm's damage may not be done. Officials were pumping water from a reservoir to ease the pressure behind an Isaac-stressed dam in Mississippi on the Louisiana border. They planned to punch a hole in the dam to release excess water in a controlled fashion yesterday.
Crews also intentionally breached a levee that was strained by Isaac's floodwaters in southeast Louisiana's Plaquemines Parish.
In Louisiana, the storm cut power to 901,000 homes and businesses, or about 47 percent of the state. Officials said it would be at least two days before power was fully restored.
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