BY MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press
STACEY PLAISANCE, Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS – Hurricane Isaac made landfall in southeast Louisiana late Tuesday as Gulf Coast residents hunkered down behind boarded-up windows with stockpiles of food and water, and wind-driven rain lashed bayous and beaches. New Orleans calmly waited out another storm on the eve of Hurricane Katrina’s seventh anniversary, hoping the city’s strengthened levees will hold.
Isaac, a massive storm spanning nearly 200 miles from its center, zeroed in on New Orleans, turning streets famous for hosting celebrations at all hours into ghost boulevards. Evacuations were ordered in Mississippi’s coastal counties and the closure of its 12 shorefront casinos. But hours before the storm crossed land in Plaquemines Parish about 90 miles southeast of New Orleans, there was little fear or panic. With New Orleans’ airport closed, tourists retreated to hotels and most denizens of a coastline that has witnessed countless hurricanes decided to ride out the storm.
“Isaac is the son of Abraham,” said Margaret Thomas, who was trapped for a week in her home in New Orleans’ Broadmoor neighborhood by Katrina’s floodwaters, yet chose to stay put this time. “It’s a special name that means ‘God will protect us’.”