File picture
New Orleans:
Hurricane Isaac battered New Orleans on Wednesday, flooding homes and driving stormy waters over the top of at least one levee, seven years to the day after Katrina devastated the city.
Isaac, packing vicious winds of 80 miles (130 kilometers) per hour and rolling slowly over Louisiana, dumped huge quantities of rain on the renowned US jazz city as residents cowered in their homes.
More than half a million people were left without power after the hurricane snapped utility poles and downed power lines.
The National Hurricane Center said the category one storm had forced a "dangerous storm surge" onto the northern Gulf Coast, with waters mounting to 11 feet (three meters) in Louisiana and patches of coastal flooding.
Heavy rains are likely to continue throughout Wednesday, it said.
Storm-driven waters spilled over a levee south of New Orleans and inundated a residential area that had been ordered evacuated, a local official said.
The flooding in Plaquemines Parish, part of a tongue of land extending into the Gulf of Mexico south of New Orleans, saw water deluge over levees on the east bank of that strip.
Even a relatively high-lying area that had never flooded in a hurricane is now under five feet (1.5 meters) of water, Nungesser told National Public Radio.
Nungesser said damage from Isaac in some areas is worse than that wrought by Katrina. He cited his home as an example.
"I stopped there to change clothes earlier. Part of my roof is missing. The back wall has moved and the water is being pushed through the bricks into the house," he said.
Nungesser added: "I don't know who is calling this a category one but this is no category one."
Powerful winds knocked over trees and ripped down power lines, leaving some 512,000 people without power, according to Entergy Louisiana, a local utility.
More than 4,000 members of the Louisiana National Guard had been mobilized, with 48 boat teams deployed around New Orleans, according to the office of Governor Bobby Jindal, who had warned residents to prepare for the worst.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said Tuesday that the city could expect up to 16 inches (40 centimeters) of rain or more from the slow-moving hurricane.
"We have dodged a bullet in the sense that this is not a category three storm," he said, "But a category one at this strength... is plenty big enough to put a big hurt on you if you fall into complacency. Let's not do that."
US President Barack Obama, travelling in Colorado, was receiving regular updates on the storm but does not plan to change his schedule, the White House said.
Obama said Monday he had managed a wide-ranging effort by federal and local governments to prepare for the storm.
A hurricane warning remained in effect for metropolitan New Orleans, a city known as the Big Easy for its jazz and easy-going lifestyle.
As of 1300 GMT Wednesday, the eye of the storm was about 40 miles (70 kilometers) southwest of New Orleans, moving inland, the center said.
Jindal said his state had contacted Washington about getting reimbursed for hurricane-preparation spending -- an allusion to agonizing delays in getting federal help after Katrina blasted the city.
While most New Orleans residents heeded calls to hunker down in their homes, a steady stream of adventurous souls headed Tuesday to the banks of Lake Pontchartrain to feel the power of the wind and watch the crashing waves.
Other die-hards spilled into the handful of bars still open in the famed French Quarter, but the streets emptied as heavier rains and darkness fell.
The timing of the storm had many here on edge.
"It brings back a whole lot of memories," said Melody Barkum, 56, who spent days stranded on a roof without food or water after Katrina struck. "I'm not afraid. If I can survive Katrina, I can survive this."
Katrina left behind a devastating sprawl of destruction and death when it hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005, and a bungled response by the Bush administration tarnished the president's second term in office.
Some 1,800 people were killed along the US Gulf Coast and in New Orleans thousands were left stranded on the roofs of their houses for days after Katrina's storm surge smashed levees long-warned to be inadequate.
Those who made it to dry land faced deadly violence and looting as the city descended into chaos and officials failed to provide water and food -- let alone security and medical aid -- in the sweltering heat.
Isaac, packing vicious winds of 80 miles (130 kilometers) per hour and rolling slowly over Louisiana, dumped huge quantities of rain on the renowned US jazz city as residents cowered in their homes.
More than half a million people were left without power after the hurricane snapped utility poles and downed power lines.
The National Hurricane Center said the category one storm had forced a "dangerous storm surge" onto the northern Gulf Coast, with waters mounting to 11 feet (three meters) in Louisiana and patches of coastal flooding.
Heavy rains are likely to continue throughout Wednesday, it said.
Storm-driven waters spilled over a levee south of New Orleans and inundated a residential area that had been ordered evacuated, a local official said.
The flooding in Plaquemines Parish, part of a tongue of land extending into the Gulf of Mexico south of New Orleans, saw water deluge over levees on the east bank of that strip.
Even a relatively high-lying area that had never flooded in a hurricane is now under five feet (1.5 meters) of water, Nungesser told National Public Radio.
Nungesser said damage from Isaac in some areas is worse than that wrought by Katrina. He cited his home as an example.
"I stopped there to change clothes earlier. Part of my roof is missing. The back wall has moved and the water is being pushed through the bricks into the house," he said.
Nungesser added: "I don't know who is calling this a category one but this is no category one."
Powerful winds knocked over trees and ripped down power lines, leaving some 512,000 people without power, according to Entergy Louisiana, a local utility.
More than 4,000 members of the Louisiana National Guard had been mobilized, with 48 boat teams deployed around New Orleans, according to the office of Governor Bobby Jindal, who had warned residents to prepare for the worst.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said Tuesday that the city could expect up to 16 inches (40 centimeters) of rain or more from the slow-moving hurricane.
"We have dodged a bullet in the sense that this is not a category three storm," he said, "But a category one at this strength... is plenty big enough to put a big hurt on you if you fall into complacency. Let's not do that."
US President Barack Obama, travelling in Colorado, was receiving regular updates on the storm but does not plan to change his schedule, the White House said.
Obama said Monday he had managed a wide-ranging effort by federal and local governments to prepare for the storm.
A hurricane warning remained in effect for metropolitan New Orleans, a city known as the Big Easy for its jazz and easy-going lifestyle.
As of 1300 GMT Wednesday, the eye of the storm was about 40 miles (70 kilometers) southwest of New Orleans, moving inland, the center said.
Jindal said his state had contacted Washington about getting reimbursed for hurricane-preparation spending -- an allusion to agonizing delays in getting federal help after Katrina blasted the city.
While most New Orleans residents heeded calls to hunker down in their homes, a steady stream of adventurous souls headed Tuesday to the banks of Lake Pontchartrain to feel the power of the wind and watch the crashing waves.
Other die-hards spilled into the handful of bars still open in the famed French Quarter, but the streets emptied as heavier rains and darkness fell.
The timing of the storm had many here on edge.
"It brings back a whole lot of memories," said Melody Barkum, 56, who spent days stranded on a roof without food or water after Katrina struck. "I'm not afraid. If I can survive Katrina, I can survive this."
Katrina left behind a devastating sprawl of destruction and death when it hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005, and a bungled response by the Bush administration tarnished the president's second term in office.
Some 1,800 people were killed along the US Gulf Coast and in New Orleans thousands were left stranded on the roofs of their houses for days after Katrina's storm surge smashed levees long-warned to be inadequate.
Those who made it to dry land faced deadly violence and looting as the city descended into chaos and officials failed to provide water and food -- let alone security and medical aid -- in the sweltering heat.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
