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Isaac Hits Land With Force, in Test of Post- Katrina Levees Hurricane Isaac Sits and Saturates Gulf Coast
(35 minutes later)
NEW ORLEANS — Hurricane Isaac lumbered ashore late Tuesday and continued to batter the Gulf Coast throughout the night and into the early morning on Wednesday, with sustained winds and heavy rains testing flood-prevention systems that were thoroughly overhauled in the wake of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina seven years ago. NEW ORLEANS — Hurricane Isaac hovered over the Gulf Coast on Wednesday morning, punishing southeast Louisiana with 80 mile per hour winds, heavy rains and the threat of calamitous flooding, as forecasters said the rain may not let up for days.
Isaac, which made landfall on Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. local time as a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 80 miles per hour, lacked the ferocity of Katrina. But as it lingered in the warm waters south of Louisiana, coastal communities across the region took a prolonged pounding. The hurricane, which made its second landfall early Wednesday, was essentially stationary just off the Louisiana coast, according to the National Weather Service, bringing with it the heightened risk of tornadoes and flash flooding hundreds of miles inland from Louisiana to Florida.
In Plaquemines Parish, near the mouth of the Mississippi River, about 95 miles from New Orleans, where the hurricane first made landfall, water “overtopped” a levee, causing extensive flooding, according to the National Weather Service.
The levee is not one of the large, federally maintained earthworks lining the Mississippi, but a locally maintained levee some 8 feet high, and lower than the 12-foot surge that hit it, according to officials from the Army Corps of Engineers. The water is threatening people living along the east bank of the parish, who did not comply with the mandatory evacuation. “Right now, we’re trying to figure out where they actually are,” said State Trooper Russel Brueck at the parish emergency operations center. “They’re not actually in the body of water. They’re just stuck.”
In the early morning as Isaac trudged its way up into the bayous of southern Louisiana,  the storm seemed to arrive in earnest in New Orleans, 60 miles to the northeast. Wind howled through the streets, picking fights with billboards, tugging down trees and flooding streets.
More than 400,000 residents of Louisiana were without power, nearly a third of them in New Orleans. They had nothing to do but wait, since Entergy, the utility, could not send workers to fix lines until winds died down to below 30 miles per hour — something they were not expected to do all day on Wednesday.
The longer the storm lingers, the more pressure it is putting on the levees and other flood-protection systems along the coast.The longer the storm lingers, the more pressure it is putting on the levees and other flood-protection systems along the coast.
After Isaac made its first landfall just southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River, it then wobbled westward and back out over water. Around 11 p.m. on Tuesday, it was about 75 miles southeast of New Orleans with the same sustained winds and it remained stalled for hours, with bands of wind and rain continuing to churn over an area stretching several hundred miles. In Plaquemines Parish, about 95 miles from New Orleans and where the hurricane first made landfall, water “overtopped” a levee, causing extensive flooding, according to the National Weather Service.
Around 4 a.m. on Wednesday, Isaac began to move slowly north again, making a second landfall west of Port Fourchon, Louisiana. But it continues to make slow progress and “surge heights of 6 to 10 feet are still occurring along portions of the coast of Southeastern Louisiana and Mississippi,” according to the National Hurricane Center. The levee is not one of the large, federally maintained earthworks lining the Mississippi River, but a locally maintained levee some 8 feet high, and lower than the 12-foot surge that hit it, according to officials from the Army Corps of Engineers. The water is threatening people living along the east bank of the parish, near the mouth of the Mississippi River, who did not comply with the mandatory evacuation.
“Right now, we’re trying to figure out where they actually are,” said a state trooper, Russel Brueck, at the parish emergency operations center. “They’re not actually in the body of water. They’re just stuck.”
In the early morning, as the hurricane trudged up into the bayous of southern Louisiana, the storm seemed to arrive in earnest here in New Orleans. Wind howled through the streets, blowing apart billboards, tugging down trees and flooding streets.
More than 400,000 residents of Louisiana were without power, nearly a third of them in New Orleans. They had nothing to do but wait, since Entergy, the utility, could not send workers to fix lines until winds were below 30 miles per hour.
After the storm made its first landfall on Tuesday just southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River at about 6:45 p.m., it then wobbled westward and back out over water. Around 11 p.m., it was about 75 miles southeast of New Orleans with the same sustained winds and it remained stalled for hours, with bands of wind and rain continuing to churn over an area stretching several hundred miles.
Around 4 a.m. on Wednesday, the storm began to move slowly north again, making a second landfall west of Port Fourchon, La. But it continues to make slow progress and “surge heights of 6 to 10 feet are still occurring along portions of the coast of Southeastern Louisiana and Mississippi,” according to the National Hurricane Center.
Federal officials warned again and again that the storm, which killed 29 people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, would generate high seas, intense rain and serious flooding in coastal and inland areas for days.Federal officials warned again and again that the storm, which killed 29 people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, would generate high seas, intense rain and serious flooding in coastal and inland areas for days.
The hurricane will be the first test of the $14.5 billion, 133-mile ring of levees, flood walls, gates and pumps put in place after Hurricane Katrina by the Army Corps of Engineers, the agency that built the defenses that failed this city catastrophically in 2005.The hurricane will be the first test of the $14.5 billion, 133-mile ring of levees, flood walls, gates and pumps put in place after Hurricane Katrina by the Army Corps of Engineers, the agency that built the defenses that failed this city catastrophically in 2005.
By all accounts, this storm is nowhere near as powerful as Katrina was, but its breadth is potentially wider, with pounding driving rains and surging waves expected lashing towns from east of Morgan City, La., to the Mississippi-Alabama border. While the storm is nowhere near as powerful as Hurricane Katrina — which struck seven years ago Wednesday — its pounding driving rains and surging waves are lashing towns from east of Morgan City, La., to the Mississippi-Alabama border.
After coming ashore on Tuesday, the storm’s center was predicted to lingered over Louisiana and was predicted to remain there through Thursday morning, said Rick Knabb, the director of the National Hurricane Center, possibly slowing further from the leisurely 8-m.p.h. pace of its advance. The Mississippi Gaming Commission ordered the 12 casinos along the coast to close.
Waters from the gulf pushed onto the coast through the night in Mississippi and Alabama where thousands had lost power and 60 m.p.h. winds knocked out transformers and stripped palm trees. Several inches of rain had fallen overnight, flooding parts of the small cities along the coast.
The authorities in Mississippi have reported making a number of rescues, including a family with a 6-month-old baby and a dog that had been living on a houseboat on the Pearl River near the Mississippi-Louisiana border.
Before the storm’s arrival on Tuesday, mandatory evacuations had been imposed in parts of eight parishes in Louisiana and in low-lying areas of Mississippi. The Red Cross had opened 19 shelters in Mississippi and Alabama and 18 in Louisiana.
The storm’s center is likely to linger over Louisiana through Thursday morning, said Rick Knabb, the director of the National Hurricane Center.
Forecasters continued to predict a potentially life-threatening coastal storm surge, already reported in some spots in Louisiana to be over 10 feet.Forecasters continued to predict a potentially life-threatening coastal storm surge, already reported in some spots in Louisiana to be over 10 feet.
At Shell Beach in Louisiana, a storm surge of 10.7 feet was reported, according to the National Hurricane Center. In Waveland, Mississippi a surge of 7.5 feet was reported. At Shell Beach in Louisiana, a storm surge of 10.7 feet was reported, according to the National Hurricane Center. In Waveland, Miss., a surge of 7.5 feet was reported.
Communities may be cut off for days, and flooding may result in “certain death” in areas outside the levees. “The hazards are beginning,” Dr. Knabb said. “It is going to last a long time and affect a lot of people.” Communities may be cut off for days, and flooding may result in “certain death” in areas outside the levees. “The hazards are beginning,” Mr. Knabb said. “It is going to last a long time and affect a lot of people.”
On Tuesday morning, with the blare of a warning buzzer and the rumble of big motors moving tons of steel, two halves of a massive butterfly gate started moving toward each other to close off New Orleans from the anticipated surge — making history. With the closing of the new gates, this corner of Lake Borgne, which allowed waters into the city that brought down flood walls and destroyed neighborhoods seven years ago, is now cut off with a barrier nearly 2 miles long, and the city’s first line of defense begins 13 miles farther out than when Katrina hit.

Kim Severson contributed reporting from Biloxi, Miss.; David Thier from New Orleans; and Marc Santora and Timothy Williams from New York.

“We are ready for this,” said Tim Doody, the president of the regional levee board covering much of the New Orleans metropolitan area, which takes over the operation of the hurricane defenses once the corps has completed them.
President Obama declared states of emergency in parts of Louisiana and Mississippi as the storm approached. “America will be there to help folks recover no matter what this storm brings,” he said at a campaign event in Ames, Iowa. “Because when disaster strikes, we’re not Democrats or Republicans first, we are Americans first.”
In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal announced on Tuesday that about 4,200 members of the National Guard had been activated and that thousands of beds were available in shelters across the state. Both he and Mayor Mitchell J. Landrieu of New Orleans said teams and vehicles were ready for search and rescue efforts. Camouflage-painted Humvees could be seen on the streets of New Orleans as the National Guard made its presence known.
As the storm’s target narrowed, mandatory evacuations were lifted in low-lying parts of Alabama but were imposed in more places in Louisiana. Eight parishes ordered evacuations in certain areas, while four others urged people to leave. People in the low-lying areas of Mississippi had been ordered to evacuate, and shelters were opened all along the northern Gulf Coast. The Red Cross had opened 19 shelters in Mississippi and Alabama and 18 in Louisiana.
Along the coast between Gulfport and Biloxi, Miss., the storm surge was the immediate concern, though the rain would bring its own problems soon enough. Officials reported dangerous storm surges in southeastern Louisiana, as high as 14 feet in spots.
But residents toughened by Hurricane Katrina, which tossed floating casinos across the highway, saw Isaac as more a curiosity and a nuisance than a major threat. “If it’s a 1 or a 2, most people don’t flip out,” said Claire Parker, 23.
The Mississippi Gaming Commission ordered the 12 casinos along the coast to close. As the sun set, families turned out to enjoy the grandeur of the churning ocean between the bands of rain that had begun to blow sideways. “We know it’s going to get so you can’t see your hand in front of you, but for now it’s just beautiful,” said Zachary Broussard, who was walking along the coast in Biloxi in the pelting rain.
Along the stretches of Route 90 that hug the Mississippi Coast, a curfew was in effect until 7 a.m. Late on Tuesday, the police pulled over the few cars that were trying to navigate the road through the heavy winds and rain, telling drivers to seek shelter immediately.
As the wind began to whistle past the windows of City Hall in New Orleans and several officials stood in their rain jackets, Mr. Landrieu said, “We are officially into the fight, and the city of New Orleans is now on the front lines.” He urged residents to take the storm seriously, and singled out for criticism some who had gone to the shore of Lake Pontchartrain to watch the surf and otherwise enjoy themselves in a day of weather as erratic as Isaac itself.
Officials predicted that 15 inches of rain would fall on areas west of New Orleans by Wednesday. At the lakefront, Rene Hebert was practicing his golf swing. “It’s the best day to practice into wind — I can work on my power,” he said. “On a calm day, it’ll be no problem.”
Others at the lakefront said they were not worried about Isaac, or that they had confidence the city was in control. “I’ve seen worse,” said Marlin Cummings, who lives in eastern New Orleans, which seven years ago saw as worse as it gets.
The streets gradually cleared, and people parked on the raised “neutral ground” dividing larger streets to keep cars out of the floodwaters that can swamp the city in any heavy rainfall.
Army Corps leaders monitored the preparations from an emergency operations center at district headquarters, by the bank of the Mississippi River. Had the storm been much stronger, they would have moved into a special stormproof bunker in a warehouse at the headquarters, as it did during Hurricane Katrina and for Hurricane Gustav in 2008.
The city’s sewerage and water board readied the pumps at the city’s major drainage canals; flood walls on two of the canals failed in 2005. With Isaac on its way, gates were closed at the mouths of the canals to block storm surge, and pumps were primed to push rainwater out, said Marcia St. Martin, the executive director of the board. “We’re ready for whatever Hurricane Isaac brings us,” she said.
The pumps have been watched closely by critics of the Corps, who argue that they are faulty. Ms. St. Martin said that although a small number of pumps were out of service, “these pump stations are built with redundancy” and the stations have plenty of capacity to do the job.
As for the weak flood walls lining the canals that collapsed in Katrina, those are now secondary defenses against gates that have been built since the storm. “I’m so thankful that we have those closures at the mouths of the canals,” Mr. Doody said. “If not for that, the flood walls inside of the canals would be tested again — by the entire volume of the lake, not just the water pumped from inside of the city.”
He said that the surge was smaller than the one the system was designed to withstand, but that his board would be watching more than 20 miles of flood walls that line St. Bernard Parish east and southeast of the city. “Smaller events will cause much greater flood-side erosion of the levees,” he said.
Mr. Doody joked that the storm now appeared to be so much less a threat than early projections had suggested, saying, “This will be more like a quiz than a test.”

Kim Severson contributed reporting from Mobile, Ala., and David Thier from New Orleans.