Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Isaac Overtops|18 Miles of Levees

NEW ORLEANS (CN) - A storm surge flooded 18 miles of levee this morning and hundreds of thousands of Louisiana homes lost power as Hurricane Isaac hit landfall about 90 miles south of New Orleans, seven years to the day after Katrina.

The Category 1 hurricane threatened New Orleans with heavy rainfall and wind, and several bridges and overpasses throughout the city were closed due to flooding.

Isaac had 80 mph winds as it reached the mouth of the Mississippi River just before 8 p.m. Tuesday. Mississippi's coastal highway was flooded and 300,000 homes in southeast Louisiana were without power this morning, at least 125,000 of them in New Orleans.

Most people who have lost power are likely to remain without until the storm has passed sometime late Thursday.

The National Weather Service reported that Hurricane Isaac was still producing a dangerous storm surge of as much as 10 feet in some places.

The hurricane made landfall in Plaquemines Parish, just outside of New Orleans. Local media reported that 18 miles of the levee there were overtopped by the storm surge.

Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser, who was a TV regular during the 2010 BP oil spill, said Tuesday evening that Isaac tore parts of the roof off his home, and water flooded in through the holes.

Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005 as a Category 3 storm, toppling levees and bringing unprecedented flooding that killed more than 1,800 people.

Follow @https://twitter.com/sabrinacanfiel2
Categories / Uncategorized

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...