An Update on Tropical Storm Karen

An update from a New Orleans newscast.

Dramatic Video of Isaac Hitting the Gulf

Newly downgraded Tropical Storm Isaac plodded its way across Louisiana on Wednesday, inundating parts of a mostly rural area southeast of New Orleans. In hard-hit Plaquemines Parish, officials rescued dozens of people by boat after they became stranded by floodwaters.

Isaac Pounds Gulf Coast

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.

Isaac Now a Cat 1 Hurricane

Isaac became a hurricane Tuesday that could flood the coasts of four states with storm surge and heavy rains on its way to New Orleans, where residents hunkered down behind levees fortified after Katrina struck seven years ago this very week.

Shelters were open for those who chose to stay, but there are no mass evacuations.

New Orleans Readies For Isaac

The National Hurricane Center is forecasting Tropical Storm Isaac to reach hurricane strength and hit around New Orleans late Tuesday or early Wednesday.  It's a slow moving tropical storm at this point, and it's going to bring a lot of rain to the Crescent City.