TORONTO – Residents of New Orleans are busy preparing themselves for the looming Hurricane Isaac, a Category 1 hurricane packed with storm surges and rain headed straight for the swampy coast of southern Louisiana.
Yet, as residents prepare for Isaac they are also remembering the state of their city just seven years ago when Hurricane Katrina devastated the area.
“Many will weather hurricane at home,” read the cover of the New Orleans paper The Times-Picayune on Tuesday.
The articles on the cover tell stories of residents bracing for strong winds and rain, give warnings of possible 100-mph winds and give insight into the upgraded levees that officials hope will keep the city safe.
Just 7 years ago the front page of The Times-Picayune looked eerily
similar as residents braced for what some would call one of the worst
hurricanes in U.S. history.
The area surrounding New Orleans also began to morph into a familiar state of quietness; The Times-Picayune said, “Around the region, schools, businesses and most non-emergency government agencies were buttoned up. Streets were nearly empty.”
“One of those days in New Orleans when it’s nearly impossible to imagine that the rest of the country’s at work. Like Mardi Gras, in a way,” read this tweet.
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Despite the warning of a milder storm, Isaac is still stirring up painful memories of Hurricane Katrina.
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“You can’t predict God’s work. This is nerve-wracking. I hate leaving my house, worrying if it’s going to flood or get looted. But I’m not going to stay in the city again,” said New Orleans resident Linda Grandison according to The Washington Post.
Forecasters warn that Isaac is a large storm whose effects could reach out 200 miles from its centre and the U.S. National Hurricane Center reported winds of 120-kilometres per hour when the storm turned into a Category 1 hurricane.
Water may be worse than wind in this case because the storm could push walls of water while dumping rain to flood the low-lying coast in Louisiana.
Hurricane Katrina was a much stronger storm, bringing wind speeds of over 140-mph when it hit land in Louisiana and a storm surge that went 20 feet above the water line.
In preparation for Isaac, residents spread the word of hash tags to be used on social media in order to help locate street flooding locations, power outages and close roads.
“Tweet street flooding, power outages to #nolaflood, #nolalights,” read this tweet.
Similar hash tags are being used by residents who know what grocery stores have important supplies, such as ice.
“Help others @NOLAnews: Know where to buy ice, gas and water? Tweet #nolaice, #nolagas, #nolawater,” read another tweet.
Isaac was centred about 75 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River at midday and was moving northwest at 10 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. It was 160 miles southeast of New Orleans.
The Hurricane is expected to hit landfall by 7 p.m. CT. Tuesday.
– With files from the Associated Press and the Canadian Press
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