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| NEW ORLEANS — Tropical Storm Isaac gathered strength early Tuesday and was on the verge of becoming a Category 1 hurricane as it rumbled toward the Gulf Coast, though precisely where it will make landfall remains guesswork, forecasters said Tuesday. | |
| The storm is projected to land somewhere along the Mississippi or Southeast Louisiana coast on Tuesday evening, according to the National Weather Service. | The storm is projected to land somewhere along the Mississippi or Southeast Louisiana coast on Tuesday evening, according to the National Weather Service. |
| Even before then, the Southern coast — and areas extending inland from Louisiana to the Florida panhandle — is likely to be buffeted by strong winds, heavy rain and flooding. The threat of tornadoes will also increase as the storm approaches. | Even before then, the Southern coast — and areas extending inland from Louisiana to the Florida panhandle — is likely to be buffeted by strong winds, heavy rain and flooding. The threat of tornadoes will also increase as the storm approaches. |
| The storm had been predicted to strike as a Category 2 hurricane, but its eventual force was revised downward Tuesday morning. It has been fickle and confounded predictions all along. | The storm had been predicted to strike as a Category 2 hurricane, but its eventual force was revised downward Tuesday morning. It has been fickle and confounded predictions all along. |
| On Tuesday morning, the massive storm was moving slowly northward, about 160 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River with sustained winds of 70 miles per hour — just shy of hurricane force, according to the National Hurricane Center. | |
| A hurricane warning was in effect Tuesday morning from east of Morgan City, which sits on the Atchafalaya River in south central Louisiana, to the Alabama-Florida border. That stretch of coast includes New Orleans. | |
| On Tuesday morning, the sky was cloudy in New Orleans with a slight breeze and no rain yet. Few people were on the streets, but that may be partly due to the fact the bars were full last night, and people sat out late on their porches anticipating a Tuesday off. | |
| The city’s airport was closed and bus and streetcar service has been suspended. | |
| Mandatory evacuations have been ordered in low-lying areas of several Louisiana parishes, but not in New Orleans, although Mitchell J. Landrieu, the city’s mayor, has asked about 900 residents in neighborhoods not protected by levees to evacuate. | |
| Evacuations have also been ordered in portions of Alabama and Mississippi. | |
| The most serious danger may not be from the wind, but from the enormous amount of water that the storm will be bringing with it and pushing in front of it. Officials encouraged those in low-lying areas to leave, warning of 12-foot storm surges along a broad area of the coast and days of nonstop rain, in some places possibly adding up to 20 inches of water. | |
| “A slow-moving, large system poses a lot of problems,” Rick Knabb, the director of the National Hurricane Center, said in a conference call with reporters, describing the risks as “life-threatening, potentially.” | |
| Louisiana residents were running out of time to decide whether to stay or go. Tropical-storm-force winds were expected to arrive overnight, rendering a last-minute escape more dangerous than sticking around. Gov. Bobby Jindal urged people in low-lying areas and places outside of levee protection to leave for safer ground. In any case, he urged residents to make up their minds quickly. | Louisiana residents were running out of time to decide whether to stay or go. Tropical-storm-force winds were expected to arrive overnight, rendering a last-minute escape more dangerous than sticking around. Gov. Bobby Jindal urged people in low-lying areas and places outside of levee protection to leave for safer ground. In any case, he urged residents to make up their minds quickly. |
| “Today is the day, for those that want to leave, today is the day they should move,” Mr. Jindal said at a news briefing, surrounded by the presidents of several coastal parishes. | “Today is the day, for those that want to leave, today is the day they should move,” Mr. Jindal said at a news briefing, surrounded by the presidents of several coastal parishes. |
| A mandatory evacuation of New Orleans is triggered by a Category 3 hurricane, a status this storm is unlikely to reach. But the time frame for a safe and effective citywide evacuation expired on Monday anyway. | A mandatory evacuation of New Orleans is triggered by a Category 3 hurricane, a status this storm is unlikely to reach. But the time frame for a safe and effective citywide evacuation expired on Monday anyway. |
| So those who remain here, as most have, will be marking the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on Wednesday not with ribbon cuttings and modest ceremonies as planned, but by hunkering down under heavy rains and winds. | So those who remain here, as most have, will be marking the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on Wednesday not with ribbon cuttings and modest ceremonies as planned, but by hunkering down under heavy rains and winds. |
| All storms have their own personalities, and this storm promises a very different experience from Hurricane Katrina. While it could possibly hit New Orleans directly — unlike Hurricane Katrina, which landed in Mississippi but sent surge waters against the city’s faulty levees and flood walls — this storm will have to contend with a $14.5 billion flood protection system that has been all but completed by the Army Corps of Engineers. | All storms have their own personalities, and this storm promises a very different experience from Hurricane Katrina. While it could possibly hit New Orleans directly — unlike Hurricane Katrina, which landed in Mississippi but sent surge waters against the city’s faulty levees and flood walls — this storm will have to contend with a $14.5 billion flood protection system that has been all but completed by the Army Corps of Engineers. |
| This system and a rapport between parish, state and federal authorities that is far stronger than the dysfunctional relationship that characterized the response effort to Hurricane Katrina, bolstered the confident statements made by city officials about New Orleans’s ability to bear up. | This system and a rapport between parish, state and federal authorities that is far stronger than the dysfunctional relationship that characterized the response effort to Hurricane Katrina, bolstered the confident statements made by city officials about New Orleans’s ability to bear up. |
| “We know now, based on the latest information, which is always subject to change, that we are going to have a hurricane that is going to hit New Orleans,” Mr. Landrieu said at a news briefing on Monday. But, he added, “there’s nothing this storm will bring us that we are not capable of handling.” | |
| After a tremor of anxiety on Saturday night and Sunday, when it became clear that the storm had turned its gaze to Louisiana, the sort of autopilot pragmatism that comes from living in hurricane country kicked in. By Sunday night, New Orleans residents had stripped bare the shelves of some grocery stores and sucked some gas stations dry. | After a tremor of anxiety on Saturday night and Sunday, when it became clear that the storm had turned its gaze to Louisiana, the sort of autopilot pragmatism that comes from living in hurricane country kicked in. By Sunday night, New Orleans residents had stripped bare the shelves of some grocery stores and sucked some gas stations dry. |
| The storm has already forced the evacuation of workers from 346 oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, which are responsible for 17 percent of domestic oil production and 6 percent of natural gas production, though it has so far had little effect on the price of commodities. It has also led to at least one confirmed tornado, in Vero Beach, Fla., and has put officials far beyond the shore on alert for more. | The storm has already forced the evacuation of workers from 346 oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, which are responsible for 17 percent of domestic oil production and 6 percent of natural gas production, though it has so far had little effect on the price of commodities. It has also led to at least one confirmed tornado, in Vero Beach, Fla., and has put officials far beyond the shore on alert for more. |
| “We’re still recovering, so we are geared up as much as any staff members can be,” said Yasamie August, information manager for the Alabama Emergency Management Agency, in a state that was devastated by tornadoes last year. | “We’re still recovering, so we are geared up as much as any staff members can be,” said Yasamie August, information manager for the Alabama Emergency Management Agency, in a state that was devastated by tornadoes last year. |
| Mandatory evacuations have been announced in low-lying areas in Alabama and Mississippi, and shelters have opened all along the coast. The evacuations were also announced in several communities outside the levees in south Louisiana, as well as for the entire parish of St. Charles, west of New Orleans. | Mandatory evacuations have been announced in low-lying areas in Alabama and Mississippi, and shelters have opened all along the coast. The evacuations were also announced in several communities outside the levees in south Louisiana, as well as for the entire parish of St. Charles, west of New Orleans. |
| Renee Simpson, a spokeswoman for the parish, said the evacuation was called for because much of the parish is unprotected by levees from the surging gulf. She pointed out that a mandatory evacuation did not mean people would be arrested or roads closed, but amounted to a warning that, with electrical failures and extensive flooding likely, people who chose to stay would essentially be on their own. | Renee Simpson, a spokeswoman for the parish, said the evacuation was called for because much of the parish is unprotected by levees from the surging gulf. She pointed out that a mandatory evacuation did not mean people would be arrested or roads closed, but amounted to a warning that, with electrical failures and extensive flooding likely, people who chose to stay would essentially be on their own. |
| This did not seem to bother many St. Charles residents, who seemed mildly amused that people would leave for anything under a Category 3. | This did not seem to bother many St. Charles residents, who seemed mildly amused that people would leave for anything under a Category 3. |
| “Category 1 or 2, I’m staying; strong 3, 4 or 5, yeah, I’m out,” said Dale Daunie, a teacher in Luling. “We’re just going to grin and bear it for a little bit. You know, barbecue and make the best out of it.” | “Category 1 or 2, I’m staying; strong 3, 4 or 5, yeah, I’m out,” said Dale Daunie, a teacher in Luling. “We’re just going to grin and bear it for a little bit. You know, barbecue and make the best out of it.” |
| Anjanette Joseph, a nurse in Destrehan, concurred with that analysis, judging the risks not worth the inconveniences of a hasty exit. “All the hotels were booked up for pets, and we have a dog and a mouse, so we decided to stay,” she said. | Anjanette Joseph, a nurse in Destrehan, concurred with that analysis, judging the risks not worth the inconveniences of a hasty exit. “All the hotels were booked up for pets, and we have a dog and a mouse, so we decided to stay,” she said. |
| This attitude concerned Louisiana officials, who warned that multiple days of rain on top of dangerous storm surges would severely test local drainage systems and that days without power in a Louisiana summer is not something anyone would want. But the gulf mentality dies hard. | This attitude concerned Louisiana officials, who warned that multiple days of rain on top of dangerous storm surges would severely test local drainage systems and that days without power in a Louisiana summer is not something anyone would want. But the gulf mentality dies hard. |
| “I’m not afraid of the storm,” said Denise Maul, a retired nurse who has an apartment in New Orleans with her husband. Her car was loaded, and she was planning to leave on Monday afternoon, she said. But they are only going to Mobile, where they have a house. It was a matter of comfort, not security. “My dad used to always say, ‘Rainy weather ain’t good for nothing but ducks and lovers,’ ” she said. | “I’m not afraid of the storm,” said Denise Maul, a retired nurse who has an apartment in New Orleans with her husband. Her car was loaded, and she was planning to leave on Monday afternoon, she said. But they are only going to Mobile, where they have a house. It was a matter of comfort, not security. “My dad used to always say, ‘Rainy weather ain’t good for nothing but ducks and lovers,’ ” she said. |
| Reporting was contributed by Kim Severson from Atlanta; John Schwartz from New York; Clifford Krauss from Houston; Lizette Alvarez from Tampa, Fla.; and Dave Thier from St. Charles Parish, La. |