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Subscribe to RSSThe Pearl River in Louisiana is rising and officials are debating whether to evacuate 5,000 homes. Meanwhile, the National Guard airlifted hay to cattle. NBC's Gabe Gutierrez reports.
Updated at4:36 p.m. ET: Engineers on Sunday were assessing the integrity of a lock along a canal north of New Orleans that threatened to fail and send water from the Hurricane Isaac-swollen Pearl River flooding through neighborhoods.
A flash-flood warning was in effect for east-central St. Tammany Parish, a community north of New Orleans in southeast Louisiana but officials said the threat of disaster had eased.
Parish President Pat Brister on Sunday changed the evacuation of the area between Bush and Hickory, east of Highway 41, from mandatory to voluntary.
"The Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District has lowered the pressure on Lock 2 near Bush. The Corps informed President Brister this morning that the threat level is lowered significantly," St. Tammany Parish officials said in a statement on their website.
Residents struggle with the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac, which has left behind feet of standing water. In Louisiana, about 2,500 people are still in shelters. NBC's Gabe Gutierrez reports.
"As there is still a potential threat, even though reduced, a voluntary evacuation remains in place until the Army Corps of Engineers deems the Lock stable and safe."
Saturday night, parish emergency officials said that the opening of valves had relieved pressure on Lock 2 on the Pearl River Diversion Canal but an evacuation order would remain in place.
Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority
Aerial view of threatened Louisiana lock
Water began pouring over the lock and leaching around its sides Saturday, prompting fears the entire structure could be washed away, sending a wall of water into nearby neighborhoods.
Officials had said earlier Saturday that the failure of the lock appeared imminent. That promoted the mandatory evacuation of thousands of residents in some 1,200 homes.
Parish Sheriff Jack Strain Strain and Brister late Saturday said the threat of the lock failing had been lessened after crews managed to open valves to release some of the water and reduce pressure on the structure.
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"The lock has been stabilized somewhat,” Strain said, according to nola.com.
Handout / Reuters
St.Tammany officials inspect Lock 2 on Saturday.
"The worst-case scenario -- we don't believe that's going to happen,'' he added.
The National Weather Service is projecting the Pearl River, at the town of Pearl River, to crest early Monday morning at 19.5 feet.
In Mississippi, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano toured areas damaged by Isaac, one day before President Barack Obama was scheduled to see first-hand Isaac's destruction in Louisiana.
Napolitano was told about 1,600 or more homes were flooded by overflowing rivers and two people reportedly died in Mississippi. Most of the damage was in Pearl River and Jackson counties.
The secretary praised emergency officials and said Obama was calling her frequently for updates. "The president has been on top of it," she said, The Associated Press reported. "We are here, we have been here, we will remain here."
As residents in Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas began surveying the damage to their homes, remnants of Isaac pushed their way north, spinning off tornadoes in southeast Missouri and threatening flash-flooding in parts of Tennessee and Kentucky.
The Gulf Coast is struggling to recover from Hurricane Isaac as nearly 400,000 homes and businesses are without power. NBC's Gabe Gutierrez reports.
In Missouri's Bootheel region, Dunklin County sheriff's deputies tracked a tornado that destroyed a farm shop and damaged a home's roof, The Associated Press reported.
On Sunday morning nearly 265,000 customers in Louisiana, 13,000 in Mississippi and 7,300 in Arkansas remained without power, according to The Weather Channel.
Isaac was the first hurricane to strike the United States this year and it hit the New Orleans area almost exactly seven years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, causing an estimated 1,800 deaths.
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It's a rare occurrence for lock gates to fail, since they point inward at an angle against the water they are retaining. The gates must be rammed by a vessel or an extremely large object, or the walls (dam) that anchor them must fail. I've worked on riverboats on the Ohio, Kanawha, Green (Kentucky), Tennessee and Mississippi rivers, some of these boats having 10,000 horsepower. The dam itself will usually fail, although that also is a rare occurrence if the dam is constructed of concrete, before the integrity of the lock gates are compromised. Of course, a flaw in the manufacturing of the gates is also possible.
why is it that[bigots]I mean repubs all seem to share a sick twisted point of view on New Orleans.I wish they would just join the human race,or go live at mittens house.John Lennon said it best"one thing you can't hide is when your crippled inside."
Honey, Aren't you glad we moved to Louisiana? You always said you wanted to live on the water!!
" I said "On" the Water ......... not "IN" the Water! .....I'm not a fish!"
You choose your disasters by where you live. If you live in Louisiana it's floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, severe t-storms. Either live with it or live someplace else. Don't expect everyone else to bail you out.
West coast, Earthquakes and Volcanos. Midwest, Tornados and Flooding. South and East coasts, Hurricanes and Nor'easters. Pick your poison.
Pick your poison. Yes my poison is the West coast. We have gone thru a few quakes and I can deal with a few broken dishes, but not a complete destruction of my home due to water damage, mold, mud and the heart ache of losing everthing. Those people have a strong desire to clean up and rebuild their lives and wouldn't live anywhere else. God bless them
Water does not need to go through the locks, just around them as shown in some of the pictures. Engineers forgot about that one. LOl
Funny, I have not heard anything from FEMA, or Oboma, about the plight of those were effected by the storm! I guess that the Democrats figure that some folks just don't rate assistance now that the Corps of Engineers have rerouted the waterways to flood the surrounding communities around the big city! Kinda like the fed letting BP off the hook so BP would not have to pay all that BP owed the communities! [:-(]
Let's see, if Obama spends govt money you're up in arms. If he doesn't spend govt money you're up in arms. In your eyes, this Obama fellow can't win either way, can he?
GOP: Should've picked Huntsman.
Wow, sounds kind of like Bush, hey Greg. Should have picked a new person for the Democratic Nomination.
Ok everyone this is a joke we are all on the internet so what I'm about to write you can check it out. When Issac was heading for the coast Salvation Army, Rad Cross and FEMA were getting ready for the trip. They were down there when It hit. 4000 men and woman, teams from power companies went down to help when the rain slowed down. I am from Southern Illinois we had some people go down to help. For the levy, when Kat hit and caused devastation they built a levy, people were happy, the levy held but no one thought of where the water was going now everyone is mad at the people who built the levy. Hey people why didn't you say something. Don't blame the people who are trying to help. When Joilet flooded, our Island Hurricane that brought over 115 mph winds we lost woods, crop land to feed everyone, and we lost all communication to the outer lands. Like they say you pick the poison you live with. I wish I can help but I can't Oh yes Obama is going down to spend the day there. So watch the news, Weather Channel had some great coverage of what was happening and you can watch it on web cameras in several places so instead of bitching about everything get off your ass and pitch in or keep your mouth shut
I don't think the lock gates were really the part that was was at issue of failing. It appears more likely that it was the surrounding lock walls that might give way, due to leaching of the surrounding/supporting soil, just as happened to the various levees during hurricane Katrina. Just another poorly written internet article that didn't clearly state what the problem actually was. Really surprised that they had not even bothered to try dumping sand bags along the outside of the canal wall to support it, and somewhat prevent more possible erosion of the remaining soil.
What is surprising is the COE folks were no where to be found....just like the current administration...rings again for democrats.....
the Gov Romney showed up to see damage first hand.....where was obama??????oh yeah campaigning up north or playing golf or burning up jet fuel
Your silence was probably deafening during the Katrina disaster, when President Bush didn't have a clue.
Or the Gulf Oil Crisis when Obama played golf and was as clueless as the Hasbro game CLUE without a butler. . Hey Sichuan.
Be it Bush Jr. or President Obama, they didn't interfere with rescue operations. They waited as they should. I can't say much about Romney, knowing he can't do anything that would help them. Only went for political votes.
President Obama declared a state of emergency a couple of days ahead of time to free up fed money and resources to help pay for this. The logistics for a presidential visit is far more complicated than for a presidential contender. Why aren't you all complaining about the power companies that contribute heavily to the republican party doing their job?
It's Bush,Bush,Bush.Bush,Bush's fault!!!!!!!!
why do these people live below sea level????? or just slightly above sea level??????
Because they want to? Because that is where their ancestral families are from? Perhaps the fishing is good and profitable? Maybe because it is a good place for gulf oil workers to live? Maybe it is where they decided was a good place for an import port?
I've read that our dams throughout the US are woefully behind in inspections, repairs, upgrades, etc. The resources are simply not there, especially in light of all the budget cuts. Lets hope this trend does not result in some sort of disaster.