Thousands evacuate from Isaac flooding

Thousands of residents evacuated Thursday from parts of Louisiana overwhelmed by rains and storm surge from Tropical Storm Isaac. As the tropical storm moved up the Mississippi River dropping as much as 25 inches of rain in some places, as many as 3,000 people left their homes west of New Orleans, CNN reported. In Washington Parish, along the Mississippi state line, police were going door to door to warn residents of possible flooding from the Bogue Chitto River, which was expected to rise 14 feet overnight. Curfews were in place from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. About 840,000 people were without power in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas. At 5 a.m. EDT, the storm was about 85 miles southeast of Alexandria, La., and 175 northwest of New Orleans with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. Movement was northwest at 8 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. A tropical storm warning is in effect for an area from Intracoastal City, La., to the Mississippi-Alabama state line, including Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas. The NHC said a National Ocean Service tide gauge indicated a storm surge of 6.3 feet was occurring at the southern edge of Lake Pontchartrain. Rain was expected to continue to be heavy, with Isaac dropping an average 7 to 14 inches. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said at least one person may have died as a result of Isaac, which hit the Gulf Coast on the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which killed more than 1,800 people in Louisiana and Mississippi. Isaac bypassed New Orleans but hit Plaquemines Parish south of the city on flood protection system that protected New Orleans. The locally built gulf-side levee of Plaquemines Parish was overtopped by Isaac's massive surge, deluging the area with up to 14 feet of water, officials said. Dozens of people had to be pulled to safety by rescue workers and neighbors. Officials went door to door early Thursday to evacuate additional people as the water crept up the west bank.