Isaac stalled over southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday morning, dumping torrential rains across the Gulf Coast and pounding low-lying areas with 8- to 10-foot storm surges and 75-mph winds. The National Hurricane Center warned that hurricane conditions would persist all day and into the evening for storm-battered coastal residents.
The huge, slow-moving storm knocked down trees and power lines, flooded roads and highways and sent bands of wind and rain pelting an area from New Orleans to the Florida panhandle. Isaac, a Category 1 hurricane, is expected to be downgraded to a tropical storm late Wednesday as it slowly crawls north toward Arkansas and the Mississippi River Valley.