December 23, 2024 20:44 PM

Hurricane Isaac 2012: Hits Down on New Orleans, Turns into Hurricane

Hurricane Isaac entered Louisiana and Mississippi early Wednesday and pushed water over a rural levee to cause flooding to homes and power outages.

Winds were at 60 mph and rain came down on New Orleans. U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami warned that storm surges and floods from the rains were expected all day and into the night as Isaac makes its way over Louisiana.

Water was pushed over the 18-mile stretch of one New Orlean's levee in Plaquemines Parish South causing some flooding in homes. Authorities in the area believe that some people may be trapped and were not sure how many decided to stay on despite evacuation orders. Rescuers planned to go to the area after the strong winds died down.

When Isaac was going at 80 mph it became a Category 1 hurricane at approximately 7:45 p.m. EDT Tuesday near the Mississippi river.

At 7 a.m. it was said that there were more than 9 inches of rain that have fallen in New Orleans in the past 24 hours. A recorded 157,000 people were without electricity in New Orleans and 482,000 total in southern Louisiana.

The National Ocean Service reported that a storm surge of 11 feet at would occur at Shell Beach, Louisiana and that a 6.9 foot surge was reported in Waveland, Mississippi.

"We're trying to get people to focus on the wind too," National Weather Service Chief Meteorologist Ken Graham said to Bloomberg. "There are major water issues, but also a lot of wind problems."

Isaac has also stopped as much as 93 percent of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. It has forced evacuation from 503 production platforms and 49 rigs the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement confirmed.

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