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Isaac
revs up to hurricane force near New Orleans
Tropical
Storm Isaac strengthened into a hurricane just off the U.S. Gulf
Coast on Tuesday as it churned toward landfall in the New Orleans
area seven years after the city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
28
August, 2012
Isaac's
winds, rain and storm surge could pose a major test of New Orleans'
new flood control systems and reinforced levees. Forecasts from the
U.S. National Hurricane Center showed the storm coming ashore late on
Tuesday.
"Isaac
has finally formed into a hurricane, so we are officially in the
fight and the city of New Orleans is on the front lines," New
Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu told reporters.
The
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began to close for the first time the
massive new floodgate on the largest storm-surge barrier in the
world, at Lake Borgne, east of New Orleans.
In
other preparations, energy companies evacuated offshore oil rigs and
shut down U.S. Gulf Coast refineries as the storm threatened to
batter the oil refining belt.
At
11:20 a.m. EDT (1520 GMT), the Hurricane Center said Isaac was
centered about 75 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the
Mississippi River with top sustained winds of 75 miles per hour.
Its
forward speed was a relatively slow 10 mph, a concern for people in
the path of the storm since slow-moving cyclones can bring higher
rainfall totals. The storm was about 370 miles wide.
Isaac
spared Tampa, Florida, where the Republican National Convention began
on Monday. But it forced party leaders to revamp their schedule and
they may have to make further revisions so as not to be seen
celebrating Mitt Romney getting the party's presidential nomination
while Gulf Coast residents are struggling through the storm.
President
Barack Obama added his concerns in a statement from the White House,
saying: "We're dealing with a big storm and there could be
significant flooding and other damage across a large area.
"Now
is not the time to tempt fate," he added, saying people should
heed warnings and evacuate if instructed by authorities to do so.
Rain
and high winds were expected in the Gulf Coast region in the coming
hours, bringing the threat of storm surge and flooding.
Isaac
had New Orleans in its sights as the city still struggles to recover
from Hurricane Katrina, which swept across it on August 29, 2005,
killing more than 1,800 people and causing billions of dollars of
damage.
MULTIBILLION-DOLLAR
DEFENSE
After
Katrina, the Corps of Engineers built a $14.5 billion defense flood
system of walls, floodgates, levees and pumps designed to protect the
city against a massive tidal surge like the one that swamped New
Orleans in Katrina's wake.
The
floodgate being closed is 26 feet high and 1.8 miles long. It was
designed to prevent the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal from breaching
its walls, as it did in 2005, flooding the neighborhoods of the Lower
Ninth Ward, Gentilly and New Orleans East, and St. Bernard Parish.
Most
of the Lower Ninth, which still shows the devastation of Katrina, was
deserted and quiet about midday on Tuesday. Residents who hadn't
evacuated were unloading water, food and fuel from their cars and
trucks into their homes.
Authorities
have urged thousands of residents in low-lying areas to leave,
warning the storm could flood towns and cities in at least three U.S.
Gulf Coast states with a storm surge of up to 12 feet.
Rainfall
accumulations, potentially totaling as much as 20 inches in some
areas, could also trigger widespread flooding.
Isaac
was not forecast to strengthen beyond a Category 1 hurricane, the
lowest on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. Its top projected winds
were about 80 mph. While that would be well below the intensity of
Katrina, which was a Category 3 storm, the size of Isaac's
slow-moving system has forecasters predicting widespread flooding.
Sporadic
rain had begun to fall in New Orleans with gusty breezes shaking
trees by late Tuesday morning, in the first signs of the storm's
approach.
"We're
staying here for the duration," said Joe Locascio, 53, as he
filled cans of gasoline for his generator at a local gas station. "It
doesn't look too bad."
Locascio
added that he and his family had evacuated for Katrina but this storm
didn't look as severe.
"If
it was a Category 2 or 3, we'd be out of here," he said.
Steve
Frezer, a 45-year-old poker dealer was topping off gas cans in the
rear of his truck.
"We're
going to ride it out. We don't live in a flood zone and we have a
generator, that's what the gas is for," said Frezer, who had
also filled the rear of his truck with cases of bottled water. "We
have a bunch of food, a grill, charcoal. We'll have a party tonight,"
he said.
But
along Canal Street in the historic French Quarter, crews were
boarding up the windows of stores and businesses.
"I'm
not all that concerned about the storm. It's still a Category 1,"
said Charles Neeley, a 69-year-old contractor overseeing workers
covering the windows of a CVS drugstore. "We usually ride out
ones and twos and get the hell out for threes and fours."
Nonetheless,
Neeley said he too had stocked up on food and water at home and fuel
for his generator.
U.S.
ENERGY OUTPUT DISRUPTED
With
nearly 80 percent of offshore U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil production shut
in and nearly half of natural gas output offline, energy companies
along the Gulf Coast refining center braced for the storm's impact,
shuttering some plants and running others at reduced rates ahead of
Isaac's landfall.
Intense
hurricanes such as Katrina -- which took out 4.5 million barrels per
day of refining capacity at one point -- have flooded refineries,
keeping them closed for extended periods and reducing fuel supplies.
The
U.S. Department of Energy estimates that about 1.32 million
barrels-per-day of refining capacity had come offline in the Gulf
Coast by Monday afternoon. Louisiana usually processes more than 3
million barrels per day of crude into refined products.
Although
no damage to offshore installation had been reported, some energy
experts said the sweeping disruption of oil production, refineries
and key import terminals could make it more likely the U.S.
government would release oil supplies from its nearly
696-million-barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the coming weeks.
Prior
to the storm, the White House had already considered a release, as
tensions over Western sanctions on Iran pushed up oil prices. Despite
Isaac's disruptions to production, international benchmark Brent
crude traded down slightly to $112 a barrel on Tuesday.
Isaac
killed at least 22 people and caused significant flooding and damage
in Haiti and the Dominican Republic before skirting the southern tip
of Florida on Sunday.
Obama
issues warning over Tropical Storm Isaac
29
August, 2012
US
President Barack Obama has warned of significant damage and flooding
from Tropical Storm Isaac, telling people in its path to take the
"big storm" seriously and follow directions.
"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 in a televised statement at the
White House.
"We're
dealing with a big storm and there could be significant flooding and
other damage across a large area. Now is not the time to tempt fate.
Now is not the time to dismiss official warnings. You need to take
this seriously."
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