Isaac makes landfall in La.; Gulf Coast braces
Source: AP-Excite
BY MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and STACEY PLAISANCE
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Hurricane Isaac spun into the southern Louisiana coast late Tuesday, sending floodwaters surging and unleashing fierce winds, as residents hunkered down behind boarded-up windows. New Orleans calmly waited out another storm on the eve of Hurricane Katrina's seventh anniversary, hoping the city's strengthened levees will hold.
Isaac, a massive storm spanning nearly 200 miles from its center, made landfall at about 6:45 p.m. near the mouth of the Mississippi River. But it was zeroing in on New Orleans, about 90 miles to the northwest, turning streets famous for all-hours celebrations into ghost boulevards.
While many residents stayed put, evacuations were ordered in low-lying areas of Louisiana and Mississippi, where officials ordered the closure of the state's 12 shorefront casinos. By late Tuesday, more than 100,000 homes and businesses had lost power.
Ed Rappaport, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center, said Isaac's core would pass west of New Orleans with winds close to 80 mph and head for Baton Rouge.
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L'Rena Anderson leans into the wind as she walks along the beach on Okaloosa Island in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012. Anderson was among many local residents who turned out to watch the effects of Hurricane Isaac as it churns through the Gulf of Mexico toward an expected landfall in Louisiana. (AP Photo/Northwest Florida Daily News, Devon Ravine)
= new reply since forum marked as read
I understand the thrill but geesh, have some respect for Mother Nature - plenty of structures have been washed away in these storms
