On the eve of Hurricane Katrina’s seventh anniversary, the Gulf Coast is preparing for the brunt of Hurricane Issac. With anticipation of 20 inches of rain over the next two days, the people of New Orleans have begun to board up windows and stockpile food and water. Click below to find out more.
At 5 p.m. ET, Isaac had 80 mph sustained winds — up from 75 mph when it reached hurricane status earlier in the afternoon. It was 105 miles south-southeast of New Orleans and 30 miles from the mouth of the Mississippi River farther south.
Hundreds of Army National Guard troops took up positions around New Orleans, brandishing weapons to ward off any threat of looting.
Their arrival came as bands of driving rain and stiff winds began battering the city and other parts of the coast. Some 10,000 homes and businesses had lost power in southern Louisiana by late afternoon, as did 6,000 customers in Mobile, Ala.
President Barack Obama added his voice to those of local officials urging residents to hunker down or evacuate if told to do so. “Now’s not the time to tempt fate,” he said in brief comments Tuesday morning. “Listen to your local officials and follow their directions, including if they tell you to evacuate.”
In New Orleans, a bumper-to-bumper stream of vehicles left the city Monday on a highway toward Baton Rouge in search of higher ground. Others prepared, or were forced, to ride the storm out.
