Isaac Devastates the Gulf Coast

Seven years ago, the area around the Gulf Coast is devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Then on Wednesday, Hurricane Isaac came with its own brand of destruction as it drenched the coast with constant rains.

It pounded the Mississippi Coast with relentless rainfall as it saturated southern Louisiana at the same time. It dumped more than a foot of rain in several places before a violent storm surge made people remember Hurricane Katrina. People were stranded on rooftops and rescue workers had to break into attics with axes as the rescued try to salvage what they can from their homes.

One of the places that were hit the hardest was Plaquemines Parish in Louisiana. It is a small patch of land that follows the Mississippi River from Orleans Parish out into the Gulf of Mexico. It was the same place where both Katrina and Isaac first made landfall.

The locally built gulf-side levee was overtopped by Isaac’s storm surge. People who ignored the warning to leave were forced into their attics when the gulf started to pour in and filled up the bowl between the levees with around 14 feet of water.

Dozens of people had to be pulled to safety by neighbors and rescuers. Water started to creep up the west bank of the parish Wednesday evening. This prompted officials to go door to door to start an evacuation of the area.

This was also seen in most areas in the Gulf Coast. People underestimated Hurricane Isaac, which was downgraded from a Category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm by midafternoon of Wednesday. This was the reason why people were taken by surprise by the floods.

In New Orleans, residents decided not to leave their homes. Fortunately, it didn’t turn out to be a disastrous decision for them. Trees were down and the streets were flooded. Almost three-quarters of the city have no power. It looked like the $14.5 billion flood protection system did its job.