Post by Tiago on Aug 28, 2012 9:24:15 GMT -5
Tropical Storm Isaac neared hurricane strength Monday evening, closing on the Gulf Coast with a projected landfall on the anniversary of the devastating Hurricane Katrina.
Isaac was forecast to strike land south of New Orleans early Wednesday, perhaps as a Category 2 hurricane with top winds of about 100 mph. Its projected arrival date would be seven years to the day after the deadly Katrina, leaving much of the Gulf Coast with "a high level of anxiety," as New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu put it Monday.
Residents of low-lying coastal areas from the Florida Panhandle to southeastern Louisiana were ordered to evacuate ahead of storm surges and heavy rain, while Landrieu acknowledged his own jitters due to the coincidence.
Isaac is expected to be weaker than Katrina, which came ashore as a Category 3 hurricane with 125-mph winds. But New Orleans could start to feel tropical storm force winds by midnight Monday, and while Isaac may veer off its currently projected course, "It seems to be settling into a pathway and a speed that is becoming predictable," Landrieu said.
"It is quite ironic that we have a hurricane threatening us on the seventh anniversary of Katrina," he said. But he added that as of Monday afternoon, "There is nothing this storm will bring us that we are not capable of handling."
Most of Katrina's nearly 1,800 deaths occurred when the protective levees around New Orleans failed, flooding the city. But Landrieu said the levees have had $10 billion in improvements since 2005, and the city's pump stations have backup generators ready in case of electrical outages.
Preparing for Isaac, state by state
Isaac faltered a bit in the Gulf of Mexico as an eye wall that had been forming appeared to break up Monday afternoon, slowing its development, National Hurricane Center Deputy Director Ed Rappaport told CNN. But as of 8 p.m. ET, its top winds remained 70 mph -- just under hurricane strength -- and it was expected to become a hurricane "soon," the Miami-based hurricane center reported.
Isaac was centered about 230 miles (370 kilometers) southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, and it was moving to the northwest at 10 mph -- a projected track that brings it ashore early Wednesday morning in the marshes downriver from New Orleans.
Isaac was forecast to strike land south of New Orleans early Wednesday, perhaps as a Category 2 hurricane with top winds of about 100 mph. Its projected arrival date would be seven years to the day after the deadly Katrina, leaving much of the Gulf Coast with "a high level of anxiety," as New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu put it Monday.
Residents of low-lying coastal areas from the Florida Panhandle to southeastern Louisiana were ordered to evacuate ahead of storm surges and heavy rain, while Landrieu acknowledged his own jitters due to the coincidence.
Isaac is expected to be weaker than Katrina, which came ashore as a Category 3 hurricane with 125-mph winds. But New Orleans could start to feel tropical storm force winds by midnight Monday, and while Isaac may veer off its currently projected course, "It seems to be settling into a pathway and a speed that is becoming predictable," Landrieu said.
"It is quite ironic that we have a hurricane threatening us on the seventh anniversary of Katrina," he said. But he added that as of Monday afternoon, "There is nothing this storm will bring us that we are not capable of handling."
Most of Katrina's nearly 1,800 deaths occurred when the protective levees around New Orleans failed, flooding the city. But Landrieu said the levees have had $10 billion in improvements since 2005, and the city's pump stations have backup generators ready in case of electrical outages.
Preparing for Isaac, state by state
Isaac faltered a bit in the Gulf of Mexico as an eye wall that had been forming appeared to break up Monday afternoon, slowing its development, National Hurricane Center Deputy Director Ed Rappaport told CNN. But as of 8 p.m. ET, its top winds remained 70 mph -- just under hurricane strength -- and it was expected to become a hurricane "soon," the Miami-based hurricane center reported.
Isaac was centered about 230 miles (370 kilometers) southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, and it was moving to the northwest at 10 mph -- a projected track that brings it ashore early Wednesday morning in the marshes downriver from New Orleans.
Read more: articles.cnn.com/2012-08-27/us/us_tropical-storm-isaac_1_hurricane-strength-hurricane-center-deputy-director-ed-rappaport/2
