Isaac approached the gulf coast this evening with menacing hurricane force winds spread out over an area 200 miles wide.
The Category 1 hurricane is expected to reach land later tonight with winds up to 80 mph and threatening more than a foot of rain -- up to 20 inches in some areas -- along with a powerful storm surge from Biloxi, Miss., to New Orleans. Isaac's wind speed could increase even more before making landfall.
Isaac, a massive and slow-moving storm, is expected to reach the coastline just a day short of the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans in 2005. New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said Isaac's path is similar to Katrina's and the anniversary has left much of the Gulf Coast on "a high level of anxiety."
"We don't expect a Katrina-like event, but remember there are things about a Category 1 storm that can kill you," Landrieu said and urged people to avoid streets likely to flood.
Usually boisterous New Orleans was a ghost town as tourists and locals heeded warnings and either left town or hunkered down behind boarded up buildings.
New Orleans Braces for Isaac 7 Years After Katrina
Watch Video Rick Knabb, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, told "Good Morning America" today, "The models show [Isaac's] forward speed slowing down, and that's not good. When a large system moves slowly, that means a lot of rainfall."
President Obama addressed the nation this morning, saying that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been on the ground for over a week working with officials in areas that could be affected.
"I want to encourage all residents of the Gulf Coast to listen to your local officials, and follow their directions, including if they tell you to evacuate," Obama said. "We're dealing with a big storm, and there could be significant flooding and other damage across a large area.
"Now is not the time to tempt fate. Now is not the time to dismiss official warnings. You need to take this seriously," he added.
Despite hurricane warnings from Louisiana to Western Florida, all eyes arel on New Orleans because this will be its first big test since Katrina. Louisiana has set up shelters and stockpiled more than a million packaged meals, 1.4 million bottles of water and 17,000 tarps.
Since the levees failed seven years ago, more than $14 billion have been spent on the 133-mile long floodwalls, spillways, gates and pumps surrounding New Orleans. While officials say the city is more prepared now than it was in 2005, it's still taking no chances when it comes to evacuations.
Gov. Bobby Jindal warned people on Monday to get out of low-lying areas.
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