486,000 without power in LA.
Still have power where I am in BR.
Praying for folks trapped in flooding. Hearing one man was trapped in attic with wife and baby and called WWL.
Hurricane Isaac rescue efforts begin for stranded Plaquemines Parish residents
Wednesday, August 29, 2012, 6:46 AM
nola.com The Times-Picayune
Some rescue have begun for Hurricane Isaac stranded Plaquemines Parish residents along its east bank by area residents with their private boats. So far at least half a dozen people have been picked up to safety, 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.
The parish levees on the east bank are about 8.5 feet and some estimates have storm surge at 13 feet. At daylight, the National Guard is expected to launch a larger rescue effort, coming into the east bank through St. Bernard. After the wind subsides, other water and air rescue efforts likely will launch.
Plaquemines Parish Parish President Billy Nungesser and other parish officials are saying that flooding along the east bank might be worse than during Hurricane Katrina. Dozens of Plaquemines residents are stranded, there are multiple reports of people trapped in attics and the general sentiments within the government complex is that less people ended up evacuating than during Katrina. No rescue efforts yet are underway and there are no reports of injuries, although there are many stranded people.
Guy Laigast, director of the parish’s emergency preparedness, says that an 18-mile stretch of the parish east bank back levees might be overtopped from Braithwaite to White Ditch and that some points might be seeing 110 miles per hour winds. There are many varying reports of wind speeds, generally ranging between 80 and 110 miles per hour.
Corps officials only are confirming reports that levee has been overtopped in two spots, in Braithwaite and then further south in an east bank area called Bel Air, river mile 65. Corps officials are saying that there are no confirmed reports of breaches, which suggest failures in levees.
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 Mrtyle Grove and the Jesuit Bend.