Thursday, August 30, 2012

Isaac meanders over Louisiana - Leslie about to develop

A Facebook photo from  Suzy Dinger of roof top flooding after a levee broke in Braithwaite, Louisiana.
A tropical depression is about to form in the eastern Atlantic that could become Leslie. In the meantime Isaac continues to meander across Louisiana while Tropical Storm Kirk strengthens in the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean, with no threat to land. The US Coast Guard, National Guard, local Sheriff & State Police and the "Canjun Navy" everyday heroes in their own boats, have carried out and assisted in thousands of water rescues over the last 24 hours. 

Tropical Storm Isaac continues to slowly move northwest across the state of Louisiana this morning leaving in his wake severe flooding and nearly 750,000 without power. Water rescues continued overnight in the hard hit Parishes west and south of New Orleans. Flooding also spread from Lake Pontchartrain into the eastern suburbs. In some cases water levels have reached the roof tops of homes. This is eerily reminiscent of Hurricane Katrina, 7 years ago to the day. That storm all but destroyed a large section of Metro New Orleans with recovery efforts still visible to this day. Rainfall across the region has been beyond impressive with just over 19 inches in 24 hours in New Orleans. I can't tell you how hard is has to rain for that much to be recorded. Just think back to how hard it rained during Irene last year here in Montreal and we had only 2 to 3 inches in 24 hours. Both fresh water and surge flooding is widespread with much of Plaquemines Parish under water.

Lakeshore, Mississippi (Weather.com)
Meanwhile in Mississippi, surge flooding has damaged homes once again in Waveland along Highway 90 east to Gulfport. Tornadoes were also a problem across Mississippi on Wednesday with numerous storms damaging homes and tearing down trees and power poles. At first light today crews will spread out across the region for more search and rescue. Once the rain and wind settle down recovery efforts can begin. Power crews from nearly two dozen states are on the way to assist.

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