Isaac batters US coast near New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS: Hurricane Isaac bore down on New Orleans early yesterday after making landfall, seven years to the day after Katrina devastated the “Big Easy” and killed hundreds along the US Gulf Coast.
Isaac, which reached hurricane strength Tuesday and was packing maximum sustained winds of 80 miles (130 kilometers) per hour, lashed southern Louisiana with heavy rains and strong winds, as residents hunkered down.
The US National Hurricane Center said the category one storm had generated a “dangerous storm surge” along the northern Gulf Coast, with a surge of 11 feet (three meters) reported in Louisiana and fears of coastal flooding.
Powerful winds knocked over trees and ripped down power lines, leaving some 390,000 people without power, according to Entergy Louisiana, a local utility.
More than 4,000 members of the Louisiana National Guard have 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 urged people to take the threat seriously, warning of the possibility of major flooding and damage.
“I want to encourage all residents of the Gulf Coast to listen to your local officials and follow their directions, including if they tell you to evacuate,” Obama said, adding: “Now is not the time to tempt fate.”
Obama said he had managed a wide-ranging effort by federal and local governments to prepare for the storm.
The flooding in Plaquemines Parish, part of a tongue of land extending into the Gulf of Mexico south of New Orleans, saw waters rise 12 feet (3.6 meters) in some homes, Parish President Billy Nungesser told a news channel.
“As that water flows over the top, it eventually will eat out portions of that levee, which then it washes away,” he said.
Nungesser said at least half of the 2,000 people living in the threatened area had left ahead of 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 1100 GMT Wednesday, the eye of the storm was about 50 miles (75 kilometers) southeast of New Orleans, moving inland, the center said.
Jindal said Tuesday that 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.