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Subscribe to RSSTropical storm Isaac passed through the warm waters of the Florida Straits to slam the Keys with intense winds and heavy rain. In Haiti, at least seven were killed. NBC's Al Roker reports.
Updated at 11:27 p.m. ET: As Isaac lashed south Florida on Sunday, the tropical storm threatened to make landfall later this week as a hurricane in New Orleans on the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s near destruction of that historic city.
Although the worst seems to have passed in Florida – a relief to Republicans planning their national convention – officials in Key West ordered visitors and residents to remain indoors as the storm moved through the island chain.
“You’ve chosen to remain in the Keys during this storm and the only safe place for you to be is indoors,” said Monroe County Emergency Management Director Irene Toner. “Stay off roads and don’t go outside.”
300-mile stretch of Gulf Coast on alert after 'huge storm' Isaac drenches Florida
As of 11 p.m. ET, the storm had maximum sustained winds of 65 miles per hour, was about 75 miles west, southwest of Key West, moving west, northwest at 14 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Fla. said.
Isaac caused weekend havoc in Cuba, where it downed trees and power lines. Before that, Isaac was blamed for seven deaths in Haiti.
Forecasters warned that Isaac could be upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane – capable of sustained winds of 96-100 mph – as it hits the northern Gulf Coast somewhere between Florida and Louisiana later this week.
The governors of Mississippi and Louisiana declared a state of emergency as officials prepared for Isaac.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal urged residents in low-lying areas of several southeastern parishes to voluntarily leave ahead of the storm. He said mandatory evacuations would likely be ordered on Monday. The governor also activated 4,000 National Guard troops and informed other states that Louisiana might need assistance if hit by Isaac.
"We’re all going to err on the side of being overprepared," Jindal said. He added that he may skip his speaking engagement at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., this week if his state is still threatened by the storm.
In the city of New Orleans, which was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina seven years ago, Mayor Mitch Landrieu also declared a state of emergency. "I'll remind everybody that we thought Katrina would be a wind and rain event," Landrieu said.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu declared a state of emergency in his city, warning residents to be prepared as the storm hurled toward hurricane status. NBC's Gabe Gutierrez reports.
"Residents should be frightened because we have issued a State of Emergency," Mississippi Gov. Bryant said. "However, I urge individuals and families to finalize their personal preparedness efforts. Review your family communication plan, make sure your emergency supply kit is fully stocked and know where you will go if you need to evacuate."
The National Hurricane Center on Sunday evening discontinued a hurricane warning for the Florida Keys and west coast of Florida, but issued a hurricane warning hurricane for the northern Gulf of Mexico coast from the New Orleans area to the Florida Panhandle.
In South Florida, three people were killed in two separate crashes due to wet roads, reported NBC News affiliate NBCMiami.com. The first crash involved a head-on collision, which killed both drivers, and in the second, the car plunged into a canal and the driver drowned, officials said.
Some minor flooding and power outages were reported in the Florida Keys but with the worst seemingly over, South Florida officials were relieved as Isaac shifted west. "We prepared for the worst and for us it's a relief," Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said, according to NBCMiami.com.
This storm will encounter a different New Orleans -- many homeless because of Hurricane Katrina. The storm will also test new gates and levees. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
Related: Follow Isaac's path with our storm tracker
Related: Live updates and analysis from weather.com
Dr. Rick Knabb, director of the National Hurricane Center, said forecast models “can drive us nuts sometimes” but they play an important role for guidance.
“It’s still very uncertain where the center of Isaac will come ashore in its final landfall in the northern Gulf,” Knabb told the Weather Channel on Sunday, “and that can make all the difference as to who gets the strongest winds, who gets the strongest storm surge.
“Gradually, we’re seeing (Isaac’s) inner core develop. We’re certain it’s going to be a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico,” Knabb said.
Cancellations and shutdowns
The Republican Party said it would recess its national convention in Tampa for a day out of safety concerns as the storm bore down. Republicans, who will formally nominate Mitt Romney as their presidential candidate for the November election, will briefly convene their four-day meeting on Monday, then recess until Tuesday.
“When she storm passes and the sun comes out it’s going to be great to be in Tampa,” Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said.
Isaac's path – whether west toward the Florida Panhandle or east toward New Orleans – is disputed by European and U.S. weather forecasting models. The Weather Channel's Bryan Norcross has more.
Related: Republicans effectively cancel first day of convention
Gulf of Mexico oil operators braced for the first hurricane to affect the U.S. oil patch in 2012. Officials said the storm could shut down more than half of U.S. offshore oil output. Isaac's more westerly expected track brings it closer to the heart of the U.S. offshore oil patch, which produces about 23 percent of U.S. oil output and 7 percent of its natural gas output
Lots of arriving flights into
— Diana Gonzalez (@DianaNBC6) August 26, 2012#MIA cancelled and more than 125 departures.#Isaacon6 twitter.com/DianaNBC6/stat…
Airlines are preparing for Isaac’s impact on Florida by waiving fees for changes and refunds for flights into and out of south Florida. Additionally, airlines on Sunday canceled most of south Florida operations.
Key West airports were closing Sunday night and most operations in and out of Miami and Fort Lauderdale were canceled until noon Monday, according to FlightAware.com. Airlines are not expecting long-term impact in Florida from the storm and should be operating normally by late Monday once airplanes, crew and staff are back in position.
More than 740 flights to, from and within the United States were canceled Sunday in preparation for Isaac, with the bulk of the cancellations at Miami and Fort Lauderdale.
Meanwhile, the Sunday night performance of classic rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd at Tampa’s American Action Network Pavilion at Liberty Plaza was canceled over safety concerns.
Old hat for locals
Key West locals followed time-worn storm preparedness rituals while awaiting the storm.
On Saturday, a steady line of cars moved north along the Overseas Highway, the only road linking the Florida Keys. Residents boarded up windows, laid down sandbags and shuttered businesses ahead of the approaching storm. Even Duval Street, Key West's storied main drag, was subdued for a weekend, though not enough to stop music from playing or drinks from being poured.
Alan Diaz / AP
Tropical Storm Isaac rakes the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba as it makes its way toward Florida.
"We'll just catch every place that's open," said Ted Lamarche, a 48-year-old pizzeria owner visiting Key West to celebrate his anniversary with his wife, Deanna. They walked along on Duval Street, where a smattering of people still wandered even as many storefronts were boarded up and tourists sported ponchos and yellow slickers.
"Category None!" one man shouted in a show of optimism.
Related: Weather Channel slideshow: The Wrath of Isaac
The Keys were bracing for storm surges of up to four feet, strong winds and the possibility of tornadoes. The island chain's two airports closed Saturday night, and volunteers and some residents began filing into shelters.
"This is a huge inconvenience," said Dale Shelton, a 57-year-old retiree in Key West who was staying in a shelter.
The Associated Press, Reuters and NBC's Isolde Raftery contributed to this report.
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The City of New Orleans is a liability we can't afford. It contributes nothing to the national economy. None of the top 500 companies have a presence there and won't. It is a prime target for any tropical storm/hurricane that enters the gulf. It has cost American taxpayers billions on more than one ocassion to rebuild and for what? The city has no economic base and a high percentage of un-educated, un-skilled, un-employed people who are already on the government dole. Some idiot built it BELOW SEA LEVEL and it depends on DIRT LEVEES AND PUMPL to keep it from flooding. Hello? Turn it into a national park and save money. I'm tired of hearing about it. It is truly a loss leader.
The idiot was French. Surprised?
The criticisms some of you aim at New Orleans apply to any city in the known Universe. Try to remember these are American citizens you're talking about, & disaster relief is a government function. Let's hope the next disaster happens to you, & the response is exactly what you wish on New Orleans.
May you get what you deserve.
Tropical storms become hurricanes when they reach 74 mph sustained winds. Why 74? GOD=7_4, whereas, G is the 7th letter, a circle can be 15 or zerO and D=4. 7/4=July 4th or 7 April 30 AD: Good(7__4) Friday when J10+E5+S19+U21+S19=74 the king(74) of the Judeans(74) - the Jewish(74) Messiah(74) - was on the C3+R18+O15+S19+S19=74. Assigning a number(74) to a letter is called Simple(6,74) English(7,74) Gematria(8,74) where words with similar sums have a connect(74) between(74) them. Y'shua(74)/Joshua(74)/IESVS(74) was born on 17/4/748 AUC (April 17, 6 BC).
Earth has 7 continents and 4 corners/4 seasons. ('7 seas' and) 4 oceans, 74% of the planet's surface is water. With the naked eye, the ancients could see 7 moving objects(74) in the heavens(74) and 4 don't cast shadows(74) on Earth. The lunar months(74) are 4 phases of 7 days (7.4 days). Lunar year + 7 day week + 4 days = solar year. Venus is .7 AU & Mercury .4 AU from the Sun. Besides Earth, this solar system has 7 planets & 4 trans-Neptunian dwarf planets. Saturn’s ‘4 seasons’ are each 7.4 years long. Human pregnancies are 40 weeks (7x40), etc.
~74% of the elemental mass of this universe is hydrogen. ~74% of everything in this universe is dark energy(74).
Now we see that GOD the Grand Architect of this Universe is real and why a T.S. becomes a hurri.(74) at 74 mph.
You need to study the life of Johannes Kepler. He too found mathmatical prescision in the orbits of the 5 (not 7) visible planets. The 7 day week, 74 MPH hurricane status & 4 phases of the moon, are purely arbitrary. The 7 "seas" are actually the 7 oceans. The Earth has no corners, & the 4 "season" are also arbitray, as many climates have 3, 2, or like Antarcitca, only 1 season.
Kepler, like you, believed in God the Grand Architect, & what he had to go through to prove his theory is instructive. What he did when he discovered the truth was simply astonishing.
Oh, yeah, I forgot. Jesus was almost certainly born in August.
The reason Mississippi was overlooked during Katrina is because the big money loss was New Orleans. Over all, MIssissippi may have cost more, but it wasn't all concentrated in 1 city. In the U.S., money is the measure of all things. So New Orleans got the ink.
Ever wonder what you're worth?
The real shame of this hurricane will be if it doesn't take out all of the GOP pieces of trash that will be in Fla the next few days to blow bag their repressive plan of running this country.
While we are at it, we may as well toss in the inept, corrupt, crooked, lying, non representative pieces of crap in congress.
Now if only the storm would take out all of this trash, then its destruction would have been worth it.
Including the bigoted cultist Romney.
Notice that the media is steering clear from the left, not asking what Nobama is doing about the upcoming storm, and why he hasn't come on tv and pleaded with people to get out of it's path. When Bush failed to do this, it was a feeding frenzy for ABC, CBS, NBC and all involved in the Dem's corner. Wonder if Nobama will "tour" the damage right after the storms pass, or will he WAIT until the looters are arrested, and the areas secured...
Oh yeah, THAT'S WHAT BUSH DID!!! Go figure...
Just saying...
"Main Stream Media" has been waiting with baited breath for YEARS for another Hurricane to hit New Orleans,
They're chomping at the bit for another catastophy.
I don't think they'll get their wish on this one. Some wind and some water, and that should be about it.
Any and all fatalities will be blamed on George Bush, and all lives spared will be because of the leadership of Barrack H. Obama!!!!!!
I love these posts. They are so funny! They used to anger me but now I find them quite amusing. I can't help but notice Jack keeps coming back for more. Watch out though, he will slap your hand with a ruler if he gets the chance
You know whats sad is that George and his people paid 12 mil. to have a Dutch team come in and explain what was going to/ did happen. These scientist just laid it out, and then it happened. Katrina that is. They even showed little pictures so George and his folks could under stand it. But, They explained to the experts,you sirs are mistaken. George W. the gift that just keeps on giving
The media has to keep us distracted with "The Big One". Fear makes us easier to control, of course, but more important is the need for us to overlook the littles ones. Between bailouts & our inability to tax the rich, the government's bankrupt, & our wallets have been drained too. So if we're unable to adequately respond to "The Big One", it can be blamed on the magnitude of the disaster. If we notice we can't adequately respond to a little one, there could be a reaction.
We have to keep those little ones local. If complaints about, say, electrical power being down for weeks when it used to be back up the next day go viral, there might be demands for action. The same if we become aware of the aging, out of date infrastructure. Of course there's no money to fix things, or repond to the disasters, so we might start asking where it went.
The money went to the pockets of people who already had a 100 times more money than can be spent in any rational way in a human lifetime. Now they have a 100 times more money than can be spent in any rational way in a 100 human lifetimes, & they're still taking more. They're so desparate for more they're demanding deregulation so they can steal from each other. At some point we'll tire of it, & start suspending these folks from the nearest lampposts.
And that's why there'll always be Welfare. Keep the poor busy acquiring & maintaining eligibility, & they won't be sitting around plotting like they did in France in 1789, or Russia in 1917 (February, not October, of course).
Perhaps we should try making democracy part of the Constitution.
With any kind of luck, maybe this hurricane will finally wipe that cesspool of scum known as New Orleans off the map of the US. The town is full of nothing but lazy, welfare loving, useless, leaches on society who have not moved or done anything to better themselves since the last storm hit there. All they can do is sit on their ass's and complain and collect their obama checks for doing nothing.
Spoken like a true Republican Wisconsite. Proud to be a Libertard over here. By the way, do you want to wipe them off the map as well?You crack me up except that what you said is so nasty. Still, that is your parties talking point. I wonder what your "Jesus" would say
Hmm. would your Jesus say wipe them off the map?
Have you ever lived through a hurricane. Probably not. But you sound like you make pretty good cheese
You did say "Wipe them off the map"? you wish for those you don't agree with to die? You are the kind of person that is giving us all a bad name
huge difference when you prepare for these things instead of pull a bush huh?
evacuate new orleans don't let anyone go back give it back to the ocean its driving everyones insurance up every two or three years!!!! get the usa out of new orleans! lol