Some local residents with boats have begun rescue efforts for Plaquemines Parish residents stranded by Hurricane Isaac along its east bank, outside the federal levee system. So far at least half a dozen people have been picked up, according to parish officials. Dozens of people on Plaquemines' east bank, south of St. Bernard Parish, reportedly are stranded, some in attics to escape flood waters that may have reached 5 to 9 feet in certain areas. 
 
 There are also as many as 65 people on the Belle Chasse/Scarsdale ferry landing in Plaquemines Parish, officials said. A search and rescue operation is underway there. Officials have received reports that the water is a foot from the top of the levee. 
 
 There is a nursing home in the Jesuit Bend area on the west bank that was not evacuated, and the Governor's office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness wants to try to evacuate it. 
 
 The parish levees on the east bank are about 8.5 feet, though some are as high as 12 feet. Some estimates have storm surge at 13 feet; corps officials this morning put the figure at 12.5 feet. Corps officials are saying that there are no confirmed reports of breaches, which suggest failures in levees. 
 
 Story by Benjamin Alexander-Bloch and Rebecca Mowbray Staff writers 
 
 The National Guard was to launch a larger rescue effort this morning, coming into the east bank through St. Bernard Parish. After the wind subsides, other water and air rescue efforts will follow. 
 
 While federal levees in the area appear to be holding, problems in Plaquemines Parish are occurring in areas not protected by the federal system, which was revamped after Katrina. 
 
 Along with the problems at Braithwaite, the levee overtoppings on the east bank are also affecting the Bel Air near White Ditch at River Mile 65. Parish officials have also received calls from a woman at Willspoint on the east bank who is claiming she received 9 feet of water and is in her attic. There are reports that the Woodlawn fire station, between Braithwaite and White Ditch, which received no water during Katrina, has been inundated with 5 feet of water. 
 
 Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said he wants to cut a hole in the Mississippi River levee to drain the Braithwaite area. But the Army Corps is opposed to the plan and hopes to get pumps brought to the area. 
 
 "My reaction is big and as many as you've got," Col. Edward Fleming, district commander of the Army Corps of Engineers, said of the pumps. 
 
 When the storm is over, the distinction between a federal and non-federal levee will become salient, but for now, the Corps is able to help. Corps engineers are working on getting Plaquemines officials a hydrograph of the back of the levees by Jesuit Bend, so they can get a better handle on what they might be dealing with there. 
 
 Col. Fleming said Plaquemines officials need to think about getting better pumping capactity down there for future storms. 
 
 Guy Laigast, director of Plaquemines Parish's emergency preparedness, said some points may have seen winds of up to 110 mph. 
 
 "The devastation of my house is worse than Katrina and the flooding in Woodlawn is worse than Katrina, so those things tell me that the damage on the east bank is worse than Katrina," Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said this morning. 
 
 When the daylight hit, parish officials and others were planning to get out and start examining the parish, "like fleas," said James Madere, a parish GIS analyst who will help assess damage. 
 
 Mark Riley, the deputy director of Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness who is stationed in Plaquemines this morning, told a Times-Picayune reporter that rescue operations would occur as soon as it was safe. 
 
 "The standard is we don't want to put first responders' lives in jeopardy and until there stops being an immediate threat to their lives we cannot put their lives at risk," Riley said. 
 
 It appears from current reports that as Isaac moves upward, it might start pushing water out of the east and into the west. Parish officials are now heavily monitoring Barataria Bay, which reportedly raised 2 feet in the last 90 minutes, from about 4:30 a.m. to 6 a.m. 
 
 The fear is that water would get pushed into Plaquemines' west bank levees and affect residents in Myrtle Grove and the Jesuit Bend area. While many of the homes along the levee in Myrtle Grove are raised about 14 feet, many of the Jesuit Bend are not as high. ||||| New Orleans mayor imposes dusk-to-dawn curfew 
 
 More than 817,000 without power across 5 states 
 
 Isaac's maximum sustained winds slip to 60 mph 
 
 Emergency crews rescue people stranded by floods 
 
 Refresh this page for the latest updates or read the full CNN story here. 
 
 [Updated 10:28 p.m. ET] 
 
 [Updated 10:20 p.m. ET] Water that overtopped levees was trapped in Plaquemines Parish with nowhere to drain. Officials were considering intentionally breaching a levee downstream to allow some of the floodwater to flow back out of the inundated area, Gov. Bobby Jindal said. 
 
 Parish President Billy Nungesser said parish officials will go out at low tide to check the back levee - a second line of defense - at the town of Braithwaite and determine where to punch holes in it. It will be Saturday, at the earliest, before crews can cut the levee open, letting water flow out into the marsh. 
 
 [Updated 10 p.m. ET] 
 
 [Updated 9:52 a.m. ET] New Orleans officials said there had been 12 incidents of looting. Police said arrests were made in each case, but didn't specify how many people were involved. 
 
 [Updated 9:48 p.m. ET] Lake Pontchartrain's water levels are "beginning to stabilize," St. Tammany Parish officials said, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Water had spilled out from the lake and flooded low-lying areas of the parish. 
 
 Rescues continue in areas around the vast Louisiana lake, including Lewisburg, Guste Island, Lacombe and Slidell, the newspaper's website reported. 
 
 
 
 [Updated 9:29 p.m. ET] Joey Amann gathered family and friends into his home in Hancock County, Mississippi, to ride out the storm, he told CNN affiliate WALA. 
 
 "You know, we just figured we'd be safer in numbers. Since our house is eight feet off the ground, we figured we'd be safer there but the water just kept coming," Amann said. 
 
 "It was scary. I mean, I've never seen the water raise this fast on this road and I've been here all my life. It just came out of nowhere." 
 
 The group ended up being rescued by emergency personnel in boats. 
 
 Amann told the station he lost his home to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. 
 
 "Thirty-six years I've lived here, and it's just devastating," he said. "Seven years ago, we were going through the same thing. No one thought it would be this bad, but it's worse than we anticipated." 
 
 [Updated 9:18 p.m. ET] Power has been restored earlier than expected to most of Dauphin Island, Alabama, CNN affiliate WALA reported. The western end of the island in Mobile Bay remains in the dark because roads there are impassable, Alabama Power said. 
 
 [Updated 9:07 p.m. ET] Jefferson Parish Council member Chris Roberts said "tar patties," presumably from the 2010 BP oil spill, had washed up on Grand Isle, Louisiana, during the storm. 
 
 [Updated 8:59 p.m. ET] A volunteer in the St. John the Baptist Parish sheriff's office said more than 200 residents in LaPlace, about 25 miles northwest of New Orleans, had been rescued from rising water coming from Lake Pontchartrain. 
 
 [Updated 8:05 p.m. ET] Tropical Storm Isaac's top sustained winds slipped to 60 mph in the National Hurricane Center's latest update. The storm was centered 30 miles south of Baton Rouge and 60 miles west of New Orleans, and had slowed its northwestern crawl even further to 5 mph. 
 
 [Updated 7:37 p.m. ET] The Federal Emergency Management Agency, in coordination with U.S. Northern Command, deployed four UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and two SH-60 Seahawk helicopters from Norfolk Naval Air Station, Virginia, to assist in search and rescue efforts. 
 
 National Guard troops moved 112 residents from a nursing home in Plaquemines Parish to another facility. 
 
 [Updated 7:16 p.m. ET] New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu assured residents the drinking water has remained safe to drink throughout the storm, and the sanitary sewer system is operating perfectly, so no one needs to restrict toilet flushing. 
 
 
 
 [Updated 7:01 p.m. ET] "It appears that the worst of this storm is moving past us now," New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu told CNN affiliate WWL, but he reiterated that a curfew remains in place until 6 a.m. Thursday. He also warned those who do travel the streets that many traffic signals are down, so drivers should treat every intersection as a four-way stop. 
 
 "What we got today was terrible, but I think we did a pretty good job," he added. "... A Category 1 can be as bad as a Category 5 if it hangs around." 
 
 Landrieu advised people to be very careful during the cleanup phase, when more than half of hurricane-related deaths occur. 
 
 The mayor also reminded residents that police are employing a no-tolerance policy for looting. "They're on it like gravy on rice," he told WWL. 
 
 [Updated 6:45 p.m. ET] The first line of defense in any disaster is neighbors helping neighbors. 
 
 [Updated 6:35 p.m. ET] 
 
 [Updated 6:28 p.m. ET] A 21-foot seawall built in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, after Hurricane Katrina is "holding up very well," Mayor Les Fillingame told CNN affiliate WWL. 
 
 "Every storm has its own personality, its own footprint. ... This, for a Category 1 storm that made landfall really not that close to us, has had such persistence," he said. "This may be the new norm." 
 
 He said perhaps 100 homes will end up being flooded by the time the storm blows over, rather than the 1,000 that might have been flooded before the seawall was built and building elevation standards improved. 
 
 [Updated 6:18 p.m. ET] A new tornado warning was issued for Harrison County, Mississippi, as a persistent rain band continues to race north from the Gulf of Mexico, CNN affiliate WWL reported. 
 
 [Updated 6:01 p.m. ET] Floodwater has overtopped a third levee in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, Parish President Billy Nungesser told CNN. 
 
 [Updated 5:54 p.m. ET] Biloxi, Mississippi, police are stopping vehicles on city streets and enforcing a curfew until further notice, Officer Jackie Rhodes told CNN affiliate WLOX. People who were arrested for looting during Hurricane Katrina seven years ago are still in prison, he said. 
 
 [Updated 5:46 p.m. ET] The National Hurricane Center said 17 inches of rain has fallen during Tropical Storm Isaac at Audubon Park in New Orleans. 
 
 [Updated 5:41 p.m. ET] More than 817,000 customers are without power, utilities along the Gulf Coast report. 
 
 [Updated 5:06 p.m. ET] Coffins float out of flooded graves in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, CNN affiliate WWL reports. 
 
 [Updated 4:52 p.m. ET] The National Hurricane Center says the storm is now centered 60 miles west of New Orleans and 35 south of Baton Rouge, still packing 70 mph winds and moving northwest at 6 mph. 
 
 [Updated 4:49 p.m. ET] Harrison County, Mississippi, is under a tornado warning until 4:15 p.m. 
 
 [Updated 4:44 p.m. ET] As many as 800 homes may have suffered significant water damage in Plaquemines Parish alone, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal says. 
 
 Meanwhile, water is said to be 12 feet deep and rising in Madisonville, Louisiana, CNN affiliate WWL reports. 
 
 [Updated 4:36 p.m. ET] Flash flood warnings are in place for all or portions of the following counties: 
 
 In Louisiana: Ascension, East Baton Rouge, Jefferson, Livingston, Orleans, St. Charles, St. John The Baptist, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Washington 
 
 In Mississippi: Forrest, George, Greene, Harrison, Lamar, Marion, Pearl River, Perry, Stone, Walthall 
 
 In Alabama: Mobile 
 
 [Updated 4:30 p.m. ET] The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration provides tools to keep abreast of weather developments. 
 
 
 
 [tweethttps://twitter.com/NOAA/status/240890920696958976] 
 
 [Updated 4 p.m. ET] New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the city until further notice. 
 
 "I'll make it really simple: if you loot, you get an orange suit," says @MayorLandrieu #NOLAready — 
 
 NOLA Ready (@nolaready) August 29, 2012 
 
 [Updated 3:42 p.m. ET] CNN affiliate WWL reports major flooding in LaPlace, Louisiana, and boat rescues are taking place. 
 
 [Updated 3:21 p.m. ET] Public and private schools throughout southern Louisiana will not reopen until Tuesday, CNN affiliate WGNO reports. 
 
 [Updated 3:04 p.m.] Isaac has weakened to tropical storm status, as its sustained winds have dropped to 70 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm's location at 3 p.m. ET was about 50 miles west-southwest of New Orleans and 55 miles south-southeast of Baton Rouge. It was crawling northwest at 6 mph. 
 
 [Updated 2:49 p.m.] Granted, this storm is no Katrina, but it's still disastrous to many people - and animals - in its path. 
 
 
 
 [Updated 2:40 p.m.] Hurricane Isaac has knocked out power to more than 725,000 customers in five states, the affected utilities report. 
 
 [Updated 2:32 p.m. ET] President Barack Obama received a briefing from federal officials on the impact of Hurricane Isaac and held a conference call Wednesday with the governors of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, and the mayor of New Orleans, the White House said. 
 
 "The president heard from the governors and mayor about the current conditions on the ground and the steps their teams are taking to respond. The president asked the governors to continue to identify any additional needs if they arise as the effects of Isaac and the response efforts continue," the White House said. 
 
 [Updated 2:25 p.m. ET Wednesday] Power could be out in some areas of Louisiana for as much as a week, Bill Mole, CEO of Entergy Louisiana, tells CNN affiliate WWL. 
 
 [Updated 2:19 p.m. ET Wednesday] Hurricane Isaac's slow, rainy march through Louisiana is expected to cause as much as $1.5 billion in insured losses, according to one disaster modeling firm, CNNMoney reports. 
 
 [Updated 2:18 p.m. ET Wednesday] Heavy squalls spawned by Hurricane Isaac continue to slap New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the National Weather Service said. The storm's center is 45 miles southwest of New Orleans and 55 miles south-southeast of Baton Rouge, it says. 
 
 [Updated 2:13 p.m. ET Wednesday] The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for Harrison County, Mississippi, including the cities of Biloxi and Gulfport. 
 
 PIC: Tombs, caskets floating in flood water from above ground cemetery near Braithwaite, LA. #Isaac #wfaaisaac ow.ly/i/Td77 — 
 
 Jason Whitely (@JasonWhitely) August 29, 2012 
 
 [Updated 2:09 p.m ET Wednesday] At least 673,039 customers are without power in Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas because of Hurricane Isaac, according to the latest numbers from power providers. 
 
 [Updated 2:07 p.m. ET Wednesday] On the lighter side, we have an iReport that may spark some smiles during this tough time for the Gulf Coast. 
 
 Greg Taylor of Mandeville, Louisiana, sent his wife and two children to Alabama to escape the storm. Taylor stayed behind and when he went into his daughter Ashley's room to feed her fish, a beta named Tom Brady, Taylor found that the 8-year-old had left behind a list of instructions for her stuffed animals. 
 
 Among them: "Noises: Scoot close to your buddy" and "When I'm gone: Stay Calm. No Partys." 
 
 [Updated 1:46 p.m. ET Wednesday] Dozens of road closures have been reported by the Louisiana State Patrol over the past 24 hours. Click here for the latest information. 
 
 [Updated 1:40 p.m. ET Wednesday] Gov. Bobby Jindal says there's an unconfirmed report of a fatality in a fire at a commercial building in Gretna, near New Orleans. News reports say heavy winds from Isaac kept firefighters from battling the blaze. 
 
 [Updates 1:34 p.m. ET Wednesday] More than 8,200 National Guard personnel are available for relief operations in Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal says. As of this morning, 4,130 people are in shelters across Louisiana, the governor added. 
 
 [Updated 1:32 p.m. ET Wednesday] Entergy Corporation, which provides power in New Orleans and parts of Mississippi and Texas, has 10,000 workers and contractors from 24 states responding to power outages, said spokesperson Chanel Lagarde. The company says it has more than 550,000 customers without power. 
 
 [Updated 1:26 p.m. ET Wednesday] Authorities are using high-water vehicles to evacuate nursing home residents in flooded areas of Plaquemines Parish, Gov. Bobby Jindal says. 
 
 [Updated 1:25 p.m. ET Wednesday] Gov. Bobby Jindal says authorities are considering intentionally breaching part of an east bank levee in Plaquemines Parish to relieve pressure on the levee. 
 
 [Updated 1:23 p.m. ET Wednesday] The Mississippi Highway Patrol reports the following road closures: 
 
 - U.S. 90 between Bay St. Louis and the Biloxi Bay Bridge. 
 
 - Highway 43/603 between U.S. 90 and I-10 
 
 - Highway 604 north of U.S. 90 at Pearlington 
 
 - Highway 43/603 at Jourdan River 
 
 - U.S. 90 at Whites Bayou near Pearlington 
 
 Closures are expected to last until 5 pm Friday. 
 
 [Updated 1:02 p.m. ET Wednesday] Gulf Power Company announced that it has restored power to more than 20,000 customers in Northwest Florida, CNN affiliate WKRG reports. 
 
 Scattered outages remain, and spokesman Jeff Rogers warned that more outages are possible throughout the day. 
 
 Feeling sad. #Isaac took the home @JamesHPerry and I just bought. All safe. House was vacant except for my dreams. http://t.co/h62AkGPB — 
 
 Melissa Harris-Perry (@MHarrisPerry) August 29, 2012 
 
 9.26" of rain has fallen in New Orleans so far, 5.21" in Mobile, and 3.42" in Gulfport, all as of 10am CDT. — 
 
 Weather Underground (@wunderground) August 29, 2012 
 
 [Updated 12:39 p.m. ET Wednesday] The University of Louisiana-Monroe is canceling classes as of 4 p.m. today through Labor Day, school President Nick J. Bruno announced on the university's website. 
 
 [Updated 12:35 p.m. ET Wednesday] Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is scheduled to hold a news conference at 12:55 p.m. ET in Baton Rouge, while New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu will hold one at 1:30 p.m. ET. 
 
 
 
 State Officials Ask Residents to Report Oil, Oily Material or Oiled Debris #Isaac emergency.louisiana.gov/docs/2012-08-2… — 
 
 Louisiana GOHSEP (@GOHSEP) August 29, 2012 
 
 [Updated 12:27 p.m. ET Wednesday] Seventy-five people have been rescued from flooded homes and rooftops in the Louisiana town of Braithwaite in Plaquemines Parish, CNN affiliate WWL reported, citing parish President Billy Nungesser. At least 25 others were "awaiting rescue on the parish's east bank on rooftops and in attics," the station reported. 
 
 [Updated 12:24 p.m. ET Wednesday] Residents have been ordered to evacuate from new areas of Plaquemines Parish, CNN affiliate WVUE reports. Water will start rising from the Oakville flood gate to Venice. School buses will be sent through the area to pick up people, the reports says. 
 
 [Updated 12:14 p.m. ET Wednesday] Not even Isaac can stop one of Louisiana's favorite pastimes: LSU still plans to play its football game against North Texas on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, coach Les Miles tells CNN affiliate WBRZ. 
 
 [Updated 12:08 p.m. ET Wednesday] The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for Hancock, Harrison and Pearl River counties in Mississippi. 
 
 [Updated 12:06 p.m. ET Wednesday] Interstate 10 between Baton Rouge and New Orleans is closed because of high water, state Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson tells CNN affiliate WDSU. 
 
 [Updated 11:59 a.m. ET Wednesday] Petty officer Ryan Tippets says all Coast Guard assets are in standby mode and “as soon as the storm passes, the Coast Guard will be out there.” 
 
 [Updated 11:43 a.m. ET Wednesday] Gas prices that are rising because of Hurricane Isaac could begin to drop as early as Monday, said the Oil Price Information Service, which reports petroleum pricing news. 
 
 [Updated 11:32 a.m. ET Wednesday] Nearly 654,000 customers are without power in Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas as a result of Hurricane Isaac, power companies reported Wednesday. 
 
 [Updated 11:28 a.m. ET Wednesday] iReporter Alekz Londos is a freelance photojournalist who traveled from Santa Cruz, California, to cover Isaac. He’s submitted video of waves crashing into the Orleans Marina on Lake Ponchartrain. 
 
 [Updated 11:22 a.m. ET Wednesday] There may be a silver lining to Isaac’s arrival in the Gulf states. Though it’s too late to benefit summer crops such as corn and soybeans, the rain from the storm could bring some much-needed hydration to parts of Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Tennessee and Missouri, AccuWeather reports. 
 
 If the rain moves far enough westward it could also benefit the wheat crops in the central and southern Plains. Wheat is generally planted in September, AccuWeather says. 
 
 [Updated 11:19 a.m. ET Wednesday] Residents of Plaquemines Parish made more than 150 calls to be rescued from rising flood waters since 2:30 a.m. this morning, parish Cmdr. Terry Rutherford tells CNN. 
 
 Sheriff's boats, National Guard boats and civilians are participating in the rescue operations, Rutherford said. 
 
 Rutherford says there is 5 feet to 14 feet of flood water in the east bank area of the parish. 
 
 Hurricane safety tips: What to do when the lights go out 
 
 [Updated 11:15 a.m. ET Wednesday] Louisiana State University will remain closed through Thursday because of Hurricane Isaac, according to a release posted to the schools website. 
 
 [Updated 11:10 a.m. ET Wednesday] Despite annual improvements for the last several years to the Plaquemine Parish levees, they just couldn’t stand up to Isaac’s storm surge, said parish President Billy Nungusser. 
 
 “This storm was not a Category 1. This storm delivered a punch, and we saw water come over those levees more than (during) Gustav and Ivan. And it continues to flow,” he told CNN. 
 
 In Woodlawn, an area along the Mississippi River that saw no flooding during Katrina, there is 5 feet of water. In other areas along the river’s east bank, there are reports of 12 to 14 feet of water that has stranded people in attics and on roofs. 
 
 “This storm continues to just pump water into that area like we’ve never seen before.,” Nungusser said, adding that residents along the west bank are worried that Isaac could deliver destruction across the river before it passes through the area. 
 
 [Updated 11:06 a.m. ET Wednesday] At 11 a.m. ET, the National Hurricane Center says Isaac remains a hurricane with winds of 75 mph, gusting to 100 mph. The center is directly over Houma, Louisiana, about 45 miles southwest of New Orleans. Tropical storm warnings for coastlines east of the Alabama-Florida border have been discontinued. Hurricane warnings remain in effect for coastlines east of Morgan City, Louisiana, to the Mississippi-Alabama border, including the city of New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain. 
 
 [Updated 11:03 a.m. ET Wednesday] The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, a 24-mile-long bridge over the lake connecting the New Orleans suburb of Metairie with Mandeville on the north side of the lake, is closed because of high winds and will likely remain so through Wednesday, the Times-Picayune reports. 
 
 [Updated 10:48 a.m. ET Wednesday] At least 5,200 people spent the night in Red Cross shelters in the storm area, Jonathan Aiken, a spokesperson for the Red Cross tells CNN. The Red Cross operates 80 shelters in six states. 
 
 [Updated 10:46 a.m. ET Wednesday] iReporter Eileen Romero of New Orleans found two homes that had collapsed in the Mid-City neighborhood. You can see her photos here and here. 
 
 [Updated 10:40 a.m. ET Wednesday] Hurricane Isaac has left at least 559,332 customers without power in Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama, power companies said Wednesday. The bulk of the outages are in Louisiana. 
 
 [Updated 10:38 a.m. ET Wednesday] Mobile Regional Airport authorities say the facility's runways will be open Wednesday and passengers will be kept informed of today's flight operations. Mobile is a southwestern Alabama city on the Gulf Coast, which has been slammed by Hurricane Isaac. 
 
 [Updated 10:31 a.m. ET Wednesday] All of Dauphin Island is without power – and this time it’s not totally Isaac’s fault. 
 
 According to CNN affiliate WPMI, a boater had to be rescued from his sail boat because of the nasty conditions on the water. The abandoned ship still had its sails raised, and it floated down toward the Dauphin Island Bridge, where it hit a power line that pumps electricity to the island’s 1,200 residents. 
 
 The ship then turned back into the Gulf and crews are trying to get the boat under control. Meanwhile, the causeway is closed and a curfew will go into effect later today. 
 
 [Updated 10:24 a.m. ET Wednesday] Hurricane Isaac is weakening "slightly" as it moves inland over southeastern Louisiana, the National Weather Service said. The storm has maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, and its center is about 50 miles south-southwest of New Orleans. A storm becomes a hurricane when those winds reach 74 mph. 
 
 [Updated 10:24 a.m. ET Wednesday] Tornado warnings have been issued for Washington Parish in Louisiana and Hancock and Pearl River counties in Mississippi, the National Weather Service says. 
 
 [Updated 10:22 a.m. ET Wednesday] Deputies and residents in Louisiana's Plaquemines Parish were working to reach people trapped in attics and on roofs by high water spawned by Hurricane Isaac, CNN affiliate WWL reported. 
 
 [Updated 10:15 a.m. ET Wednesday] Public schools in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, will not reopen until Tuesday, the district says in a posting on its website. 
 
 [Updated 10:13 a.m. ET Wednesday] A tornado warning is in effect for parts of Hancock and Harrison counties in Mississippi, the National Weather Service says. 
 
 [Updated 10:07 a.m. ET Wednesday] Water was encroaching on an evacuation shelter in Raceland, in Lafourche Parish, reports Gina Swanson from CNN affiliate WDSU. 
 
 The majority of the city of Baker is without power. #isaac #isaacon9 — 
 
 (@WAFB) August 29, 2012 
 
 [Updated 9:58 a.m. ET Wednesday] Tulane University in New Orleans has canceled all classes until Tuesday, the school has announced on its website. 
 
 "Students on campus are safe and still sheltering in place in residence halls," the school said. 
 
 [Updated 9:49 a.m. ET Wednesday] Hurricane Isaac is posing a significant threat for inland flooding. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration such flooding "the hidden danger of tropical cyclones." Inland flooding accounts for more than 50% of hurricane-related deaths, NOAA says. Check out their web page on the dangers. 
 
 #Isaac Let friends/family know you're OK by sending a text or updating your social networks. Limit voice calls to emergencies only. — 
 
 FEMA (@fema) August 29, 2012 
 
 [Updated 9:40 a.m. ET Wednesday] After Katrina, carpenter Bill Boesch rebuilt his and his wife’s house with an extra level “just in case.” As Isaac approached, he was prepared with coolers and a generator, but the storm conjured some unpleasant memories from seven years ago. 
 
 “It just brings all of that back up – you know, that whole experience and the loss,” he said. 
 
 Wind sustained at 43 mph with a wind gust to 58 mph at Baton Rouge Metro Airport! #Isaac is showing up now! — 
 
 WBRZ News (@WBRZ) August 29, 2012 
 
 [Updated 9:22 a.m. ET Wednesday] In Mississippi, there are about 2,132 evacuees housed in 31 shelters across the state, CNN affiliate WCBI reports. The station said about 4,000 homes were without power as of 5:30 a.m. CT. 
 
 If you're in Mississippi and need to evacuate, the Red Cross has a list of available shelters on its website. 
 
 The Louisiana Red Cross has a list as well. 
 
 Disaster Distress Helpline offers crisis counseling & avail 24/7 for states in path of #Isaac: 1800-985-5990 / text TalkWithUs to 66746 — 
 
 Distress Helpline (@distressline) August 28, 2012 
 
 Tornado Warning issued in Perry, George, Stone counties in MS #Isaac — 
 
 (@WKRG) August 29, 2012 
 
 [Updated 9:20 a.m. ET Wednesday] A couple, their 6-month-old baby and family dog were rescued from a houseboat on the Pearl River this morning, according to The Sun Herald, a newspaper that covers the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The incident occurred in Pearlington, just 100 feet from the Louisiana state line. Emergency and wildlife officials brought the family to safety after rising water trapped the family on the boat, the paper reported. 
 
 [Updated 9:17 a.m. ET Wednesday] 522,228 customers are without power in Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, according to power providers Entergy, Alabama Power, and Cleco. 
 
 [Updated 9:15 a.m. ET Wednesday] The center of Hurricane Isaac is 40 miles southwest of New Orleans, the National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory Wednesday. Strong squalls from the storm are battering southeastern Louisiana and heavy rains and a "dangerous storm surge" are likely to continue into the evening, the advisory said. 
 
 [Updated 9:14 a.m. ET Wednesday] An elderly Florida may have been disoriented from heavy rain associated with then-Tropical Storm Isaac when she drove into a retention pond and drowned Monday, CNN affiliate WFTV in Orlando reports. 
 
 The body of 89-year-old Margaret Langewisch was found in her Mazda in the 18-foot-deep pond in Winter Springs on Tuesday. 
 
 "We had a torrential downpour for 10 or 15 minutes and I think that's what the problem was because she must have missed the first right and thought she was going to the clubhouse," resident Tony Palmiotti is quoted as saying. 
 
 [Updated 9:07 a.m. ET Wednesday] Alabama Power reports that about 5,600 customers are without power, mostly on Dauphin Island, in Bayou la Batre and other areas in south Mobile County. Another 1,100 are without power in the Theodore area. Alabama Power says all customers should have power restored by day's end. 
 
 [Updated 9:05 a.m. ET Wednesday] With Isaac now moving at the torpid pace of 6 mph, National Hurricane Center Director Richard Knabb tells CNN that the storm's eye has yet to pass through the region and residents in the area can expect pounding rain "all day today, into tonight, into tomorrow." 
 
 "For many people, it's not even half over," Knabb said. 
 
 [Updated 9:01 a.m. ET Wednesday] As Isaac's winds and rain continue to hamper government services in Louisiana and Mississippi, the city of Pensacola, Florida, has announced it is back to business, according to CNN affiliate WALA. City Hall, libraries, garbage service and the Pensacola International Airport were all operational as of this morning, the station reported. 
 
 [Updated 8:53 a.m. ET Wednesday] Three adults and one infant in Mississippi were rescued overnight from a houseboat as Hurricane Isaac hit the region, the state's emergency operations center said Wednesday. 
 
 [Updated 8:42 a.m. ET Wednesday] Today is the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina making landfall on the Gulf Coast seven years ago. CNN has put together a few pieces in remembrance of the natural disaster that killed hundreds and left the region reeling. There's a photo gallery as well as a video package revisiting the destruction left in Katrina's wake. 
 
 [Updated 8:36 a.m. ET Wednesday] The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood warning for several Louisiana cities, including Timberlane, Metairie, Marrero, Kenner, Harvey, Avondale, New Orleans, New Orleans East, Chalmette and Hahnville. The warnings, which affect St. Bernard, St. Charles, Orleans and Jefferson parishes, are in effect until 9:45 a.m. CT. 
 
 [Updated 8:31 a.m. ET Wednesday] Please remember, if you're on or near the Gulf and have stories, photos or videos to share, please send them to iReport. Thanks! 
 
 WEATHER UPDATE: Flash flood warning extended through 9:45 a.m. fb.me/1Q3S7pIQU — 
 
 St. Charles Parish (@stcharlesgov) August 29, 2012 
 
 [Updated 8:28 a.m. ET Wednesday] Mississippi and Louisiana residents who didn't evacuate and aren't in danger should stay put until the winds and rain pass, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said. 
 
 "We have resources ready to go, but until the winds come down, we're really asking people, if you're not somewhere that's dangerous, stay where you're at unless you're told to evacuate," he told CNN. 
 
 [Updated 8:06 a.m. ET Wednesday] In Destin, Florida, more than 200 miles east of New Orleans, there are reports of heavy damage, including a broken-down boardwalk near a condominium development. CNN affiliate WEAR reported that waters from the Gulf essentially swallowed the beach before flooding the streets in the resort town that styles itself as "The World's Luckiest Fishing Village." More than 11,000 people live in the city, which is located on an isthmus separated from the Florida mainland by the Choctawhatchee Bay. 
 
 Resident Kris Thurman told WEAR, "It seems like we've been in this pattern where every season if a tropical storm or a hurricane gets anywhere near the Gulf, even if it's not a direct hit, the sea rises and it washes out the beach." 
 
 According to the Public Service Commission, at least 486,298 people in Louisiana are without power. #Isaac — 
 
 Louisiana GOHSEP (@GOHSEP) August 29, 2012 
 
 [Updated 7:48 a.m. ET] Several environmental groups have expressed concerns that Isaac could stir up some of the remnant crude from the BP oil spill more than two years ago. BP rejected the notion in a statement to Huffington Post. 
 
 SkyTruth, an environmental group specializing in remote sensing and digital mapping is encouraging residents in the area to post photos of any oil pollution they see to the SkyTruth website. 
 
 "That's the most obvious way that the oil might come back into the public eye. Erosion could expose and churn up tar balls and tar mats," SkyTruth President John Amos told HuffPo. 
 
 [Updated 7:44 a.m. ET] A tornado watch remains in effect for southeast Louisiana and southern Mississippi until 4 p.m. CT Wednesday, the National Weather Service says. 
 
 [Updated 7:41 a.m. ET] Gas prices shot up by nearly 5 cents a gallon nationwide Wednesday after Hurricane Isaac cut output from refineries along the Gulf Coast, CNNMoney reports. 
 
 But experts say the price spike is likely to be short lived, especially since the winds associated with the Category 1 storm are not believed to have caused lasting damage to the refineries in the region. 
 
 Wholesale gas prices were already falling Tuesday ahead of the storm making land, and were sharply lower Wednesday. 
 
 Click here for state-by-state gas prices. 
 
 [Updated 7:37 a.m. ET] Because Isaac is moving so slowly, it is not expected to complete the 70-mile trek from New Orleans to the capital, Baton Rouge, until late morning or early afternoon, several Louisiana news outlets are reporting. 
 
 According to CNN affiliate WFAB, forecasters are saying Isaac could take 12 hours to travel from south of the Crescent City to the capital and that the center of the storm is expected to pass through Wednesday afternoon. Tropical storm-force winds are expected for a "prolonged period," the station reported. 
 
 [Updated 7:34 a.m. ET] The National Weather Service issues a tornado warning for Gulfport, Biloxi and Long Beach in Mississippi. 
 
 [Updated 7:27 a.m. ET] The Louisiana attorney general has issued a statement reminding the state's sex offenders the evacuating because of the storm foes not relinquish them of the responsibility to notify law enforcement of their whereabouts, CNN affiliate WAFB reports. 
 
 They can either phone law enforcement or register their location on the internet at www.offenderwatchexpress.com. 
 
 "Under Louisiana law, you are required to notify law enforcement of any changes in residence, including any temporary situation that may cause an absence from your usual place of residence for more than seven days," according to the release. 
 
 [Updated 7:24 a.m. ET] "The water came up so quick it looks like we lost everything," a Plaquemines Parish resident tells CNN affiliate WWLTV. Listen as he talks to the station from his attic. 
 
 [Updated 7:10 a.m. ET] Its large size and slow motion are worsening the effects of Hurricane Isaac, making it seem a stronger storm than the Category 1 storm it is, Richard Knabb, director of National Hurricane Center, tells CNN’s Soledad O’Brien. 
 
 [Updated 7:03 a.m. ET] Three people have been rescued from flooding in Plaquemines Parish, including one woman rescued from a roof, parish President Billy Nungesser, tells CNN's Soledad O'Brien. 
 
 [Updated 6:54 a.m. ET] 438,150 customers are without power in Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas, according to power provider Entergy's storm information site. 
 
 @nolaready I'm digging that the official emergency preparedness handle of #nola just coined this hash tag #TurnAroundDontDrown — 
 
 LAUREN ALEXiS (@1aurenalexis) August 29, 2012 
 
 [Updated 6:47 a.m. ET] Louisiana Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater announced that all state government offices will be closed today, CNN affiliate WAFB in Baton Rouge reports. 
 
 Winds so strong near New Orleans, the Lakefront ASOS detecting the rain drops as snow. Lakefront Airport 08:53 Light Snow Fog and Windy. — 
 
 Alan Crone (@alancrone) August 29, 2012 
 
 [Updated 6:42 a.m. ET] Animal shelters in New Orleans and Gulfport, Mississippi, were forced to ship several pets awaiting adoption to North Texas, according to CNN affiliate WDSU. The two shelters sent a collective 175 cats and 105 dogs to two Texas shelters. 
 
 To make room for the animals, which arrived yesterday, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is offering discounts on adoption fees, the station reported. 
 
 The NWS is receiving reports of up to 5 feet of water in the areas of the overtopped levee near Braithwaite, LA. Residents saying up to 10ft — 
 
 CNN Weather Center (@CNNweather) August 29, 2012 
 
 
 
 [Updated 6:36 a.m. ET] The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for Jackson County in southern Mississippi. 
 
 [Updated 6:32 a.m. ET] CNN's Brian Todd in New Orleans reports rising waters in the streets. 
 
 [Updated 6:25 a.m. ET] The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for portions of Hancock and Harrison counties in Mississippi. 
 
 A state-by-state look at the effects of Hurricane Isaac 
 
 415,000 without power, according to Entergy map, nearly 300,000 in Jefferson and Orleans bit.ly/f8kHaI — 
 
 WWL-TV (@WWLTV) August 29, 2012 
 
 [Updated 5:49 a.m. ET] Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser is a personal victim of Hurricane Isaac, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. 
 
 Winds have ripped parts of the roof off his home and water has been pouring in, the paper reported. 
 
 [Updated 5:44 a.m. ET] There have been reports of 10 to 12 feet of water in homes in Plaquemines Parish, parish President Billy Nungesser told CNN's “Early Start” anchor Zoriada Sambolin. 
 
 Nungesser said Isaac has pushed more water into some areas than Katrina did seven years ago. He said the Woodlawn area had no water in it from Katrina and has five feet of water in it now. 
 
 [Updated 5:34 a.m. ET] In its 5 a.m. ET advisory, the National Hurricane Center says Isaac is still a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. 
 
 [Updated 5:26 a.m. ET] Billy Nungesser, Plaquemines Parish president, told CNN what happens when a levee is overtopped: 
 
 "As that water flows over the top, it eventually will eat out portions of that levee, which then it washes away. 
 
 "Either that or the inside of the levee will fill up. 
 
 "One or the other will happen. Either way that area’s going to be totally inundated with water." 
 
 [Updated 5:19 a.m. ET] Billy Nungesser, Plaquemines Parish president, spoke to CNN about the overtopping of a levee in the parish: 
 
 “We knew we were going to have trouble with the projected storm surge, but we were hoping this storm wasn’t going to sit out there as long as it has done, backtracked, and keep pumping this water up against the levees. And there’s only just so much that it can take." 
 
 [Updated 5:12 a.m. ET] Officials are reporting "overtopping of a levee on the east bank" from Braithwaite to White Ditch in Louisiana's Plaquemines Parish, which will "result in significant deep flooding in the area," the National Weather Service said. 
 
 [Updated 5:05 a.m. ET] The National Weather Service warned early Wednesday that heavy rainfall across metropolitan New Orleans and nearby coastal communities will likely result in flash floods. 
 
 [Updated 4:05 a.m. ET] The storm has resumed moving, slowly, toward the west-northwest at 8 mph, the National Hurricane Center says, after being stalled for part of the morning. 
 
 [Updated 3:15 a.m. ET] Hurricane Isaac is stationary near the coast of southeast Louisiana, the National Weather Service says. It's expected to resume a slow northwestern movement later today. 
 
 @donnabrazile: Please RT: Everyone practice good #FireSafety when using candles during #Isaac in order to avoid fires. #NOLAReady — 
 
 NOLA Ready (@nolaready) August 29, 2012 
 
 [Updated 2:03 a.m. ET] "The center (of the storm) has wobbled westward and has moved back over water," the National Hurricane Center wrote in a late-night "forecast discussion." "A northwestward motion has recently resumed and a second landfall should occur later tonight near Grand Isle (Louisiana). ... Little change in strength is expected during the next 12 hours or so as the center moves across the bayous of southeastern Louisiana. Steady weakening should commence later Wednesday as the center moves farther inland." 
 
 [Updated 1:55 a.m. ET] 
 
 12:30am update w/all reported road closures, downed trees, flooding & other infrastructure issues at ready.nola.gov #Isaac #NOLAReady — 
 
 NOLA Ready (@nolaready) August 29, 2012 
 
 [Updated 1:52 a.m. ET] More than 256,000 Entergy Louisiana customers were without power at last count. 
 
 [Updated 1:44 a.m. ET] Cameron County, Texas, officials closed the Padre Island and Boca Chica beaches Tuesday evening because of dangerous tides and currents, CNN affiliate WBRZ reported. Three shelters - one in Dallas, two near the Louisiana line - were opened in Texas for storm-driven evacuees, the station reported. 
 
 [Updated 1:25 a.m. ET] As of 1 a.m. ET, Hurricane Isaac was 60 miles southeast of Houma, Louisiana, and 70 miles south of New Orleans, still maintaining 80 mph winds and dumping large amounts of rain on Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, the National Hurricane Center said. Dangerous storm surge conditions were observed all along the northern Gulf Coast. 
 
 "The combination of a storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters," the NHC advisory said. Surge levels could reach 6 to 12 feet in Mississippi and southeastern Louisiana; 3 to 6 feet in Alabama and south-central Louisiana; 2 to 4 feet along the Florida Panhandle and Apalachee Bay; and 1 to 3 feet along the rest of Florida's west coast, the center predicted. 
 
 A surge of 11 feet already had been recorded at Shell Beach, Louisiana, it said. 
 
 Isaac is expected to produce total rainfall amounts of 7 to 14 inches, with up to 20 inches possible in spots, leading to "possibly significant lowland flooding," the NHC said. 
 
 Isolated tornadoes are possible along the central Gulf Coast region and parts of the lower Mississippi Valley through Wednesday, it said. 
 
 People also should beware of rough surf and dangerous rip tides all along the coast for the next couple of days, the NHC warned. 
 
 [Updated 1:17 a.m. ET] The season-opening college football game Thursday between Louisiana Tech and Texas A&M has been postponed because of the hurricane, CNN affiliate KTVE reported. The game will be played in Ruston, Louisiana, on October 13, which was an open date for both teams, Louisiana Tech officials said. 
 
 [Updated 12:49 a.m. ET] According to CNN affiliate WGNO, the following locations are under flood warnings because of storm surge and/or heavy rain: St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington in Louisiana; Pearl River and Hancock in Mississippi. 
 
 
 
 [Updated 12:34 a.m. ET] Rain fell with a vengeance along the Gulf Coast as Hurricane Isaac slowly skidded along the Louisiana coast like a Roomba bumping into a wall. 
 
 TUESDAY LIVE BLOG ||||| Enlarge Image Close Associated Press Chuck Cropp, center, his son Piers, left, and wife, Liz, right, wade along a New Orleans street. 
 
 Tropical Storm Isaac moves through the Gulf Coast, bringing floods and high winds. WSJ's Cameron McWhirter reports from Biloxi, Miss. via WorldStream. 
 
 BELLE CHASSE, La.—Isaac dumped more than a foot of rain on parts of the Gulf Coast Wednesday, leaving some residents stranded and hundreds of thousands of homes without power. 
 
 A storm surge overtopped a levee in Plaquemines Parish, a rural area southwest of New Orleans with about 25,000 residents, which bore the brunt of Isaac's fury. The surge filled up a neighborhood with as much as 12 feet of water. More than 100 people had to be rescued, some of whom had been stranded in their attics or on their roofs. 
 
 Late Wednesday, authorities were working to evacuate as many as 3,000 residents in Louisiana's St. John the Baptist Parish after flooding triggered by a storm surge in Lake Ponchartrain and Lake Maurepas. Roughly 1,500 residents had been evacuated as of Wednesday night from the parish west of New Orleans, according to Gov. Bobby Jindal's office. 
 
 However, the strongest part of the storm largely bypassed New Orleans, which was devastated precisely seven years ago by Hurricane Katrina. "Isaac continues to produce heavy rains and severe weather as it moves farther inland over Louisiana," the National Hurricane Center said early Thursday. 
 
 Officials said a federally funded system of levees, pumps and floodgates around New Orleans that were built up after Katrina defended the city well against Isaac, which was downgraded to a tropical storm from a Category 1 hurricane Wednesday afternoon. 
 
 Despite the threat of flooding in the city from the rain, the federal levees weren't "at risk of failure," New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said. 
 
 Isaac had dropped about 19 inches of rain on parts of New Orleans by Wednesday night, possibly putting it on course to set a rainfall record, according to the National Weather Service. Up to 25 inches of rain was expected along the Gulf Coast. 
 
 "We all recognize the irony that today is the seventh anniversary of Katrina," Mr. Landrieu said at a news conference, clad in a black T-shirt and cargo pants. "It has forever scarred our lives, changed our lives and redirected the way we do many, many things." 
 
 Indeed, the flooded streets and rooftop rescues of people and pets so close to the city in nearby Plaquemines Parish proved eerie reminders of the hellish days of Katrina. 
 
 The water rose so high and so quickly in Jimmie Hutchinson's single-story house in Wills Point that he could touch it—even as he and three others were hunkered down in his crawl-space attic. 
 
 At 5 a.m., the water rose to its peak height of eight feet. "I kept hoping the water would stop, and thankfully it did," said the 53-year-old shipyard worker, standing in front of a YMCA in Belle Chasse that was being used by local authorities as a shelter. 
 
 At 1 p.m., after 12 hours in the attic, two volunteer firefighters on a 20-foot boat saved Mr. Hutchinson and the others. "For Katrina, we never had any water in the house," Mr. Hutchinson said. "So, we thought this was just a Category 1. It's just a storm. But ain't no way it was just a Category 1." 
 
 Photos: Hurricane Isaac Pounds Louisiana View Slideshow Associated Press A man crossed Canal Street in the wind and rain from Hurricane Isaac Wednesday in New Orleans. 
 
 Federal and local authorities said they were considering breaching part of a levee to help drain the flooded area. 
 
 "We've never seen anything like this, not even Katrina,'' Billy Nungesser, the parish president, told reporters at a news conference. 
 
 Mr. Nungesser said floodwaters reached farther into some neighborhoods along the parish's eastern bank of the Mississippi River than in 2005, when the far more powerful Katrina, a Category 3 hurricane at landfall, barreled through the region and destroyed about two-thirds of the homes in the parish."It's the pounding of this storm, sitting here so long, pushing up like nothing we've seen before," said Mr. Nungesser, adding that his own house suffered more damage Wednesday than during Katrina. 
 
 Hurricane Tracker Track the latest Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms, and look back over past seasons. View Interactive 
 
 Parish authorities ordered a mandatory evacuation of residents on the western bank of the Mississippi, saying they could no longer guarantee area levees could withstand the rising waters. They had ordered mandatory evacuations in other parts of the parish ahead of Isaac. 
 
 Water levels are a perpetual problem in the parish, which stretches 80 miles along the Mississippi River and sits about 15 feet below sea level. 
 
 Before Isaac's arrival, local officials said their storm defenses had been strengthened since Katrina, but the parish wasn't impregnable. "We're much better. We're not perfect yet, but we're better," said Guy Laigast, Plaquemines's director of emergency preparedness, in an interview earlier this month. 
 
 Mr. Jindal said other parts of the state were reporting damage. "This is a slow-moving storm, causing a lot of damage," he said. 
 
 Rick Knabb, director of the National Hurricane Center, said tropical-storm force winds could continue into Thursday morning for some areas. "Large systems tend to spin down very slowly," he said. "It's going to take a while for this to spin down.'' 
 
 Isaac buffeted southeastern Louisiana's marshlands, near Grand Isle, for hours Wednesday as it crawled inland at an agonizingly slow clip of about six miles per hour, dumping rain on a region that is already heavily saturated. Trees, loosened by the wet soil, fell on homes and businesses and across roadways. 
 
 "This has been the most unpredictable storm in a real long time," said Logan Banks, a spokesman for Lafourche Parish. "No one was able to accurately predict the path and the timing, and we would have expected it to blow through." 
 
 Merlin Toups, a 65-year-old retired shipbuilder in Houma, La., said he has seen many storm, but Isaac was different. "Never have I seen a hurricane come ashore and gain strength," he said. 
 
 The storm also lashed the Mississippi coastline. Portions of U.S. Route 90, which runs along the coast into Louisiana, were closed, as flooding made them impassable. "Rain is going to be our worst enemy here," said Clay Jones, a captain with the D'Iberville Police Department. "We're worried about flooding." 
 
 Isaac was expected to cause insured losses of as much as $1.5 billion onshore, according to disaster-modeling company Eqecat. The loss is modest relative to past storms; Katrina's $41.1 billion price tag is the largest insured loss in U.S. history. Losses from Hurricane Gustav, which struck in 2008 as a Category 2 storm, were around $2 billion. 
 
 Retailers specializing in ice, building materials and other supplies prepared to get up and running as soon as Isaac passed. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Home Depot Inc. stocked stores with emergency shipments of generators, tarps, flashlights, bug repellent and mold treatments. 
 
 Nearly 95% of Gulf oil production was shut in Wednesday due to the storm. Isaac's impact on gasoline and diesel prices was seen as minimal, according to research firm GlobalData. But there was a risk that lengthy power outages could delay refinery start-ups. Phillips 66 said its Alliance refinery at Belle Chasse, La. lost power. Flooding, according to Maxim Group energy market specialist Eliecer Palacios, is also a "key risk" to the region's refineries. 
 
 —Devlin Barrett, Shelly Banjo, Valerie Bauerlein, Erik Holm, Ben Lefebvre, Jennifer Levitz, Cameron McWhirter and Alison Sider contributed to this article. 
 
 Write to Daniel Gilbert at daniel.gilbert@wsj.com, Timothy W. Martin at timothy.martin@wsj.com and Mike Esterl at mike.esterl@wsj.com 
 
 A version of this article appeared August 30, 2012, on page A1 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Isaac Rolls Wide, More Seek Shelter. ||||| NEW ORLEANS — Seven years to the day that Hurricane Katrina and levee failures unleashed a deluge of devastation on the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Isaac brought its own distinctive mode of destruction on Wednesday, drenching the coast not with a quick blow but with an unremitting smothering. 
 
 It pummeled the Mississippi Coast with relentless roundhouse jabs, while pinning southern Louisiana under a saturating rainfall. On its crawl up from the coast, Isaac dumped more than a foot of rain in some places and shoved before it a violent storm surge that would soon bring back the terrible old images of 2005: people marooned on rooftops, rescue workers breaking into attics with axes and the rescued clutching what little they had left. 
 
 The worst-hit part of the coast was Plaquemines Parish, La., the finger of land that follows the Mississippi River from Orleans Parish out into the Gulf of Mexico, and the place where both Isaac and Katrina first made landfall. 
 
 Fears that a locally built gulf-side levee would be overtopped by Isaac’s massive surge were well founded. Many of those on Plaquemines Parish’s east bank who ignored Monday’s order to leave were forced into their attics when the gulf poured in, filling up the bowl between the levees with up to 14 feet of water. 
 
 Dozens of people had to be pulled to safety by rescue workers and neighbors. As of Wednesday evening, water was beginning to creep up the west bank of the parish as well, prompting officials to go door to door to evacuate what is effectively the bottom two-thirds of the parish. 
 
 “We’ve never seen anything like this, not even Katrina,” said a visibly rattled Billy Nungesser, the parish president, in a briefing to reporters. 
 
 The same theme was repeated everywhere, by Kim Duplantier, a school principal whose home in Plaquemines had survived multiple hurricanes but was filled to ruin with water on Wednesday; by the mayor of Grand Isle, La., a coastal community that was flooded and cut off from the mainland; and by A. J. Holloway, the mayor of Biloxi, Miss., who now wishes he had ordered people to leave. 
 
 The skepticism with which Gulf Coast residents, including Mr. Holloway, viewed Isaac — which was downgraded from a Category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm by midafternoon on Wednesday — proved treacherous. 
 
 “I really didn’t anticipate this,” said Mr. Holloway, as he wheeled his sport utility vehicle to the edge of Highway 90, a cozy coastal road usually filled with carloads of beachgoers and casinogoers but now a steadily swelling river. “There’s a lot more water than I would have thought.” 
 
 In New Orleans, the decision by most residents to stay did not turn out to be disastrous. Trees were down across the city, and streets flooded, and three-quarters of the city was without power, as it will be for several days for more than 600,000 across the state, until the wind dies down enough for utility workers to come in. But despite a few nervous moments, the city’s all but finished $14.5 billion flood protection system seems to have worked. 
 
 Outside the city, severe flooding was widespread as Isaac sat defiantly on the coast. The National Hurricane Center expected the storm to drop up to 25 inches of rain in some areas. Officials said Wednesday night that they were working to evacuate up to 3,000 people from floodwaters in St. John the Baptist Parish, about 30 miles west of New Orleans. Tornado warnings were also in effect in several Mississippi counties. 
 
 Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana said Wednesday that more than 4,000 people were in shelters across the state, and that 5,000 members of the National Guard had been deployed to help in response efforts. What is perhaps most remarkable about the storm is that there are still no reported fatalities in the United States, especially considering the degree to which it caught gulf residents by surprise. 
 
 “Initially, the storm only being a tropical storm instead of a hurricane, many people, especially the people who live down there, didn’t have a whole lot of concern,” said Deano Bonano, an aide to a parish councilman, referring to the town of Lafitte outside the levee. By Wednesday afternoon, the bayou that splits the town was rising so rapidly that scores, if not hundreds, of people were facing potentially days of being cut off from the world.
– Today is the 7th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and for residents of Plaquemines Parish, it's deja vu all over again, according to the parish president. Billy Nungesser tells NPR that the parish, located some 95 miles from New Orleans, has already seen damage that rivals, and could even surpass, that heaped upon it by Katrina. With the levee overrun, Nungesser says parts of the parish that had escaped unscathed in previous hurricanes now sit under five feet of water. "I don't know who's calling this a Category 1, but this is no Category 1," Nungesser said. "My house has more damage than it did during Katrina." More on the situation in Plaquemines, and beyond: The parish's levees range from 8.5 feet to 12 feet in height. The Army Corps of Engineers estimates the storm surge hit 12.5 feet, but have yet to confirm a breach. This implies the levees, which are not part of the federal levee system, failed, reports the Times-Picayune. While the director of Plaquemines Parish's emergency preparedness says winds may have hit 110mph, CNN reports that Isaac has weakened a bit since, with maximum sustained winds of 75mph (the hurricane threshold is 74mph). As of about 10:30am ET, Isaac's center was located about 50 miles south-southwest of New Orleans. The AP reports that 500,000 are without power in the areas around New Orleans. In Southern Mississippi, a tornado warning has been issued.