NEW ORLEANS (WKOW) -- The Gulf Coast continues to be drenched by Tropical Storm Isaac and now we know at least one death is blamed on the storm.
So far, Isaac has hit Plaquemines Parish the hardest. As many as 70 people had to be rescued from homes with water up to their roofs. Officials in the Parish say they plan to breach one of their levees to relieve pressure on it.
"No one thought this storm was going to do what it did to Plaquemines Parish. I myself, it doesn't matter about damage to a home, to give you an idea I had more damage to this storm than I did with Katrina, and I rode out Katrina," said parish president Billy Nungesser.
In New Orleans, the mayor ordered a dusk-to-dawn curfew. And because Isaac is moving slowly, residents face another night of storm surges and flooding.
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NEW ORLEANS (WKOW) -- Officials in New Orleans are imposing a dusk-to-dawn curfew as Hurricane Isaac continues to lash the city on the seventh anniversary of Katrina.
Police cars have been patrolling the nearly empty streets since Isaac began bringing fierce winds and heavy rains to the city Tuesday night. The curfew was set to start Wednesday evening and will last until further notice.
Rescuers in boats and trucks plucked a handful of people who became stranded by floodwaters in thinly populated areas of southeast Louisiana. Authorities feared many more could need help after a night of slashing rain and fierce winds that knocked out power to more than 600,000 households and businesses.
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NEW ORLEANS (WKOW) -- Utility companies say more than 500,000 have lost power as Hurricane Isaac moves through southeast Louisiana, bringing wind, rain and flooding.
Most of the outages Wednesday are in areas around New Orleans as Isaac lashes the area with 80 mph winds.
The Category 1 hurricane has pushed water over a rural levee to flood some homes, knocked out power and immersed beach-front roads in Louisiana and Mississippi as it makes a drenching slog inland from the Gulf of Mexico.
Wind gusts of more than 60 mph and sheets of rain pelted New Orleans, where people braced themselves for the storm behind levees that were strengthened after the much stronger Hurricane Katrina hit seven years ago to the day.
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NEW ORLEANS (WKOW) -- Hurricane Isaac is lashing New Orleans as it approaches and pushing flood waters over a rural levee south of the city.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center reports the center of the storm Wednesday morning was 50 miles south-southwest of New Orleans and moving slowly.
Authorities say a storm surge driven by Isaac pushed water over the top of an 18-mile stretch of levee in a thinly populated part of Plaquemines Parish.
The levee is one of many in the low-lying coastal zone.
Plaquemines officials believe some people may be trapped in their homes by the waters, but it is unclear how many might still be in the area. Strong wind was hampering rescue efforts.
