and hello to everyone. i'm natalie allen. welcome to cnn's special coverage of hurricane isaac. here is the latest that we have for you. right now hurricane isaac is moving over louisiana on the seventh anniversary of hurricane katrina. isaac made landfall over the southeastern part of the state near the mouth of the mississippi river with

80-mile-per-hour winds. that happened around 6:45 p.m. central time. up to 20 inches of rain is expected and that's what we're watching closely as this storm moves ashore. we have correspondents all throughout the region covering this storm through the night for us. and we want to get straight away to cnn's john zarrella. he's been with us in gulfport, mississippi. john, you can tell us what you've been experiencing and what's been going on right now. >> reporter: well, the worst of the weather that we've experienced through this entire storm is what we're getting right now. you can certainly see the trees are whipping around. the rain is horizontal. i was out there and behind me, the viers watching behind me, of course, the gulf of mexico to the south and highway 90 which runs all along the beach, the beach road throughout mississippi. and one of the big concerns, of course, here has been for storm surge flooding for the road to go underwater at some point.

but as you can see, what we have had all day is the wind actually blowing from the east to the west. so you don't have that powerful onshore flow. right now i was out there a few minutes ago with waind meter an we were getting winds around 45 miles per hour. i'll take a walk out here, natalie, and people will get a better idea as i move away from the hotel, a little better sense of the kind of wind that we're experiencing out of here now and it comes and goes and the rain in sheets. a couple of things to tell everyone. there are 35 shelters that are open in mississippi. they only had about 15 people in those shelters at the last read that we had. they had prepositioned all kinds of assets. mississippi emergency management. they've got water, they've got food, they've got tarps for houses if they need them, they have just about -- generators

are prepositioned. anything that they need is ready to come in once the storm blows through. the question, of course, that everyone has is because it's moving so slowly. the big concern is not only a storm surge but perhaps a bigger concern is going to be for inland fresh water flooding. we are seeing -- we are being pounded now by the sheets of rain that don't stop. earlier in the day it would come and it would go. now it's pretty consistent, as you can see, as the viewers can see. natalie? >> yeah. we've heard from some officials down south from you, john, that this is pretty rough hurricane as far as one of the toughest that they've seen since katrina with all of the hurricanes that you've covered for so many years, how are you comparing this one so far to others as far as what you're seeing and the conditions? >> reporter: well, you know, it is a category 1 hurricane and

we're not seeing hurricane conditions here. and you know, one of the things -- it's real easy for viewers to get an idea of what we have. look, the lights are still on. that's an indication that you're not experiencing those driving hurricane-force winds that are knocking out power. but clearly we are in -- what we are in here is a very strong, powerful storm and we're 100 miles from the center of the storm. so think of it that way if you're a viewer out there. we are 100 miles to the east of the center of the storm and you can see the conditions that we are experiencing here. and as you move closer and closer to the core of the hurricane where other teams are, where anderson cooper and rob marciano are, they are in the thick of it where they are getting those 75, 80-mile-an-hour winds. and there was a report of a wind gust on an oil rig of 106 miles an hour. that's category 2 sength.

now, that was one wind gust at that speed. but this is a very powerful broad storm with the potential to drop 20-plus inches of rain and likely will and that's as much of a concern, if not more. you know, they always tell you, natalie, you run from the water, you hide from the wind. in other words, you can hide from the wind but if you've got to worry about water, you've got to get out and so one of the big concerns, of course, fresh water flooding. natalie? >> and you know, john, all day today we've been listening to people that were going to get out, people that were going to stay. certainly the anxiety of katrina and this being an anniversary comes into play for all of t peoplevehaha been so much there. what is your sense asar as people there in thegulfport area? we see a few cars going by. how many are stinging this one out d just saying enough is enough, i'll never go trough another one? >> reporter: a lot people did say that, no question. a lot of oplelso understood

that this was not a katrina, not by any stretch othe imagination. but what we did see when we first got into town, hundreds of people that were filling sandbags to make sure that they could protect their houses. a lot of low lying areas here. in fact, 80,000 sandbags were distributed in mississippi in the coastal county. now, you can see we are getting another one of those -- those little bursts of energy and one of the other things that does is water rescue teams. they know that if they are going to have that high water they are going to have to be able to get in there and get people out. we saw a lot of people saying to us -- and they did say that they have 110,000 who evacuated from the coastal communities. what these people were saying to us is, look, i never want to see another katrina in my lifetime and i don't think i will. so many people said, we're going to be okay in this one. we know it's a category 1 but we

know we'll be safe as long as we stay indoors, we take precautions. if we're told to evacuate, we will do so if we're not in an area that is an evacuation area. a lot of people decided to stay put and ride this out. you can feel it. the wind has really picked up. natalie, it's an interesting thing, we're at about 20 foot here above sea level talking about, back to katrina, this hotel that we're at right here, one of the most iconic visuals of all of katrina out of gulfport was a pontiac grand am forced through the front doors of this hotel by the storm surge when it came in. so more than 20 foot of storm surge pushed that grand am through the front doors. in fact, inside is the high water mark in this rebuilt hotel. 28.10 feet. all the way to the top of the first floor of this hotel.

so well above where i'm standing now and you can see how far down the beaches from me, you know, right here at 20 feet, another eight feet. so that's how high the water was at katrina. now you can see another gust. natalie? >> all right. well, that illustration, that e reflection about the grand am tells people what this town has been through. john, thank you for your efforts. we're going to go now a bit south of you and bring in live brian todd who is in new orleans for us a. city that might be, you know, a little more on edge considering that they have to trust these refurbished levees. brian, hello. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. yes, they are on edge here. the eye of the storm made landfall a couple of hours ago eight winds eight rain really starting to kick up here in the french quarter.

we're going to show you down here, especially in this part of town, flying debris. a lot of trees flapping in the wind but a lot of flapping debris around. that's a particular danger, of course, in these overnight hours where you can't necessarily see it coming at you. as far as flooding is concerned, we just talked to the joint information center here in new orleans and tell us there was flooding in lake pontchartrain. those roads are impassable by vehicle which, they say, is not out of the ordinary when a storm like this comes. so that part was expected. a little bit of flooding up in that area. for the most part, down here in the french quarter and most of new orleans, no flooding yet. the levees and flood gates are holding. lots of debris to show you. look at these downed limbs and a lot of it is flying around down here in the french quarter. of course, it's 1:00 in the morning here in new orleans. but the storm surge, you can

see, it really kicking up the wind and the rain and really intensifying now. we also have to tell you about power outages. that's one of the things we keep looking around here. we want to make sure no power lines are flying around. power lines are a big issue now. 265,000 plus customers in the state of louisiana are without power at this hour. that is 99% of all of the power outages due to this storm right now. i was just told 98,000 customers without power that. is the big issue now. flooding, not so much right now. again, maybe the most intense rain yet to come, natalie. >> and give us a sense, brian, of how des sew ladesolate it is in terms of how many people said no chance, even if it's a category 1, how many are there just hunker ed down?

>> reporter: well, it's summer and normally you'd see a lot of people out here in the french quarter. you can see down there, no one walking around. no one walking around here in jackson square. i mean, this is a lively part of town. new orleans with a legendary reputation for partying and overnight revelry, none of that tonight. it's been desolate pretty much during the daytime hours, too. no mandatory evacuations for new orleans but people understand even a category 1 hurricane you've got to hunker down and for the most part that's what they've been doing. i think the lessons of katrina so far very well learned in this city. >> and certainly the timing is a fresh reminder from hurricane isaac's timing. thank you, brian todd, we'll be back with you. thanks very much, brian. don't forget for the latest on isaac's forecast track, you can go to cnn.com/hurricane. we'll have much more coverage for you right after this. ♪

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ooo no. the hotel lost our reservation. nonsense! you book at travelocity, your reservation's guaranteed. well, i did not book with travelocity, okay?!? [ female announcer ] get the travelocity guarantee any way you book, including our new app. you'll never roam alone. and welcome back. we have the latest on hurricane isaac which is bearing down on the southeastern united states. you are watching live pictures

as this slow-moving hurricane batters the famous bourbon street in new orleans. beating down on louisiana and coastal mississippi and alabama. winds are reaching speeds up to 85 miles per hour in some parts. more than 200,000 people are without power as they bear the brunt of this weather. most of the folks wouithout pow in the state of louisiana. we are with you all of the night bringing you all of the information as we get it. we want to go to meteorologist karen mcginnis who has the latest on the path of the storm, what it's doing, where at this moment. >> you know, this system for a lot of folks in louisiana seeing a category 1 hurricane may not instill a lot of fear. but, in fact, this is fickle would be one of the easier words to say and that is, it's going

to be hovering off the coast here, we think, for the better part of the next 24 hours. it's got kind of a ragged looking eye associated with it. but because of its erratic movement, moving a little bit towards the west and northwest fairly slowly, but as it does, it's going to throw all of that moisture on shore as you've been hearing throughout the last few days. as the water rushes in, the storm surgeon the order of 10, 15, 20 feet already at shell beach, we've had a storm surge there of 11 feet. what does that mean? well, if you can imagine, there is your home, barely rising above sea level and you've got 11 feet of water that is rising in your direction. all right. we're going to zoom in across this region and chad myers who is still here after his valiant duty all night long reported that there is a wind gust associated with a band that has moved near new or new orleans.

the big problem is the rain and the storm surge. some of the rainfall totals around new orleans over the next couple of days, some of the estimates are as much as 27 inches expected. take a look at some of the wind gusts at new orleans. we have right around 69 miles per hour and sidell, 38. h hammond, 33. the wind is not the big issue. however, i will mention that in some of those downtown areas, once you get up several stories and maybe 28 story, you're looking at a category higher hurricane. this is a category 1 hurricane

supporting winds at 80 miles per hour. those downtown buildings it may feel like a category 2 hurricane. and you've got that wind battering. so we're going to look at damage associated with the wind the higher up we go. it's going to be the city that is especially vulnerable. i want to zoom in more closely and we'll take a look at some of these bands moving on shore. we had john zarrella right around grand isle. here is the eye. as i mentioned, it's looking ragged. as the eye moves over the very warm water, it looks like that rainfall just keeps pumping in the region and as it does, already in new orleans we've had rainfall totals of about three inches. and if you can imagine over the next day or so, maybe another foot, maybe another foot and a half is certainly possible. so the devastation from this rainfall is going to be exceptional as we watch this system just kind of hover around here for the next day, day and a half.

natalie rng back to you. >> a storm that so uncertain but one thing that was certain is that it was going to be bringing lots and lots of rain and they are socked in for a few days even. >> it doesn't have to be a category 2, 3, or 4. category 1 can still produce that widespread damage. >> karen mccginniss, thank you. hurricane isaac is not packing the punch that hurricane katrina but the timing is uncanny. new orleans slid into chaos in the wake of katrina was retired general russel honore who is joining me on the phone. thank you for being with us. we really appreciate it.

>> good morning, natalie. >> good morning to you. first, i want to ask you, can you give us a sense of what it's like where you are right now? >> i'm in baton rouge. we have sustained winds of 30, 35 miles per hour. no rain yet. but that storm is heading to baton rouge and my observation is that that storm will turn out lights into all of these parishes through east baton rouge parish and all the way up to alexandria and on to monroe as it leaves the state and this is going to be a major lights out and mor flooding event in louisiana. >> and we're hearing about that from all of our correspondence throughout as far as how much rain is coming ashore. we have to talk about the timing of this, general honore. you were the guy that came in and started getting things together when katrina happened. it's almost a joke a. cruel one,

of course, that this is happening on katrina's seventh anniversary. what is the mood that you're hearing from people? are they confident? are they nervous? has this been bringing up a lot of anxiety? what are you hearing? >> well, yeah. i guarantee you have all of the emotions at work here because you've got people who actually lost loved ones, who lost their homes to katrina and any time you mention a storm in the gulf, they know what the potential of how bad a storm can be. in this case, based on good science and prediction, local governments primarily in all of these parish and lowell parish, if you're inside the levee system, and people in low-lying parishes, such as grand isle, were told to move. so we are facing this as a category 1 storm that could have the effects of a storm a lot higher category because of the slow movement amount of water.

so this storm still has a threat. the threat is flooding and turning the lights out for much of louisiana south of i-10. >> is it hard to believe it has been seven years and how do you feel about as far as a the leadership and the organization that you've been seeing in the run up to this storm, certainly not to the category of katrina but just the different approach and the lessons from katrina that you heard on the run-up to isaac coming ashore? >> well, i think katrina was a life changing event for everybody in america and all bran branches of government from local to state to federal know that the more that you can collaborate the better off you are. a bunch has happened since then, changes in law and use of the stafford act and deployment of fema before the storms. so we've done a complete 180 from where we were prior to

katrina and collaboration in support of state and federal and local and that's helped a lot as well as use of the national guard deploying them early, getting them on location and in position and ready to go. so the government at all level as we normally do when something bad happens and you can see that effect in the term of the government as well as reinforcement people. the government has done everything that it can to get ready. that being said, mother nature can still surprise us and defeat anything built by man. we've just got to be prepared. i think what i've seen is a lot more organized and a lot more focused than before katrina when we were operating on different rule and laws as laid out by congress before that. all for the good. i think we're in a better shape infrastructure and in command and control. a lot of better communication

equipment. but let's see. this is just the first quarter of this event p. we've got this one and then we've got tomorrow and the days after as we get into search and rescue and recovery from this event to see how well we do. >> well, we certainly hope you do very well and it seems like they've done everything that they can to make sure that anyone who needs the help will get it in the days ahead because they are in for many, many hours of difficult weather. we thank you so much, lieutenant general russel honore, it's always a pleasure to talk to you. we appreciate it. all right. you can get updates on facebook.com/cnn/groups. we're back with more right after this. great shot. how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet? by building on the cisco intelligent network they're able to serve up live video, and instant replays,

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moving hurricane batters the gulf there on the right. that's the superdome and on the left and very much abandoned bourbon street, as you can imagine. relentless bands of torrential rains beating down on louisiana as coastal mississippi and alabama. we're told that winds are reaching speeds up to 85 miles per hour in some parts and that more than 200,000 people are without power, mostly in louisianas they bear the brunt of this weather. and we're with you through the night bringing you all of the information on isaac as we get it. so stay with us. right now we have with us the president of jefferson parish. john young joins us on the line. john, thank you so much for talking with us. looking at a map, it looks like jefferson parish was right near the area where this storm came

ashore. what have you been experiencing? >> we've been getting pounded pretty good but we're up to the challenge. i mean, grand isle is in jefferson parish and we have crown point there which is outside of the levee protection system. the main concern is the tidal surge and there's a severe amount of rainfall that is going to fall on us. every inch of water that falls every drop of water that falls needs to be pumped out and can only pump one inch per hour and half an inch thereafter. these bands are coming in quickly but fortunately we're getting breaks in the bands so we're keeping up with it and thus far we've been able to keep water off the streets and we don't have any issues with flooding at this point in time. but we're not out of the woods yet. >> absolutely. what about damage otherwise? what are you hearing? >> well, i just got back with 15

minutes ago from doing a riding survey of the parish. we're separated by the mississippi river. so we have an east bank and a west bank and not a lot of damage at this point. we've had some power outages. most of our parish has power but they have pockets of neighborhoods and commercial corridors without power. there is not a lot of debris on the streets at this point other than certainly not on the major arteries on side streets, residential areas with trees. a lot of tree limbs are out and down. but, again, we've been unlike other parts of the country, we've been inundated with rain in the past month, month and a half almost on a daily basis so our conditions are very saturated and that -- with the wind, it leaves a lot of trees being uprooted and that sort of thing. so those are the three major concerns that we've had. those areas outside of the levee

protective system, coastal flooding within the severe amount of rainfall, the tremendous amount of rainfall as well and we're going to be in this battle for another 48 hours and then the third concern that is parish-wide would be loss of power and our company cannot come in until the winds go below 35 to restore that power. >> certainly the folks that live off the levee system have probably taken off and evacuated? >> well, we issued a mandatory evacuation but these people have been through a lot and a lot of them decided to stay. now, in grand isle, about 1500 residents, we had 30 or 50 that decided to stay so a lot of people left. but in crown point most of them decided to stay. they are going to fight it out. >> we have a fighting spirit. we are very resilient down here

and we are prepared for the worst and we're hoping and praying for the best. >> well, we certainly will take that with you, hoping for the best for you and it sounds like so far you are weathering the storm all right and we appreciate you bringing in the latest. maybe we can talk with you a little bit later. john young, thank you so much. don't forget for isaac's forecast track grk to cnn.com/hurricane. we continue to cover it from all basis online with our guests that we continue to speak with and our correspondents scattered throughout the southeast coast. we'll take a quick break. we're right back. it doesn't get any better than endless shrimp at red lobster.

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i'm natalie allen. welcome back to cnn's special coverage of hurricane isaac. we're here with you through the night. right now you're watching live

pictures as this slow moving hurricane -- and that's the key, the slow moving part -- batters new orleans on the seventh anniversary of hurricane katrina. this is the area of bourbon street getting hit by rain and wind right now relentless bands beating down on southeast louisiana as well as coastal mississippi and alabama. more than 200,000 people are without power as they bear the brunt of this storm. plaquemines parish nilly nungesser says they are keeping a close eye on the levees. of course, the storm came right on shore at plaquemines parish. mr. noungesser is already seein damage there. here's what he had to say. >> we have a two-foot hole in the roof. the water is flowing into the house. the back wall of the house actually buckled and the water

is coming through the light sockets like you were standing there with a hose. that's the same kind of damage we received on katrina. and i'm just blown away that that kind of damage from this supposedly category 1 storm, i was just shocked when i stopped there to change clothes. >> let's get right to brian todd who is live for us in new orleans. you know, listening to mr. nungesser talk about the damage he is seeing, it's quite remarkable when this is a category 1 storm, certainly with gusts of category 2, but it's illustrative of the damage that some people can see with all of the water that they are going to get, brian. >> reporter: that's absolutely right, natalie. and one of the things people outside of louisiana should know about plaquemines parish where billy nungesser is situated is that is a very low lying area. we were down there a couple of years ago to cover the oil spill. spent a lot of time with billy

none guesser at nungesser. it's a large parish. they are really in the eye of this thing. of course, the eye came ashore a couple of hours ago. they are always kind of susceptible to not only hurricanes but tropical storms and even just regular storms during the summertime. that particular area of louisiana, very, very susceptible. we're going to show you a little bit here. jackson square in new orleans. the rain -- i mean, it's amazing. just a couple of minutes ago it was very intense and changes directions constantly. that's what you've got to really worry about when you're out in a hurricane like this. the rain is going to change direction constantly. the wind will change direction. therefore, the debris will change direction. you've always got to keep a heads up while you're out and about like this. a lot of debris falling in this part of new orleans from the trees. you can see the trees whipping behind me here. the rain not as intense as it was a couple of minutes ago. two things that experts will tell you are the main killers at

this point in a hurricane. flying debris, standing water. our journalist is going to tilt down here just below me and you can see a lot of standing water in this part of the street here. that's a real danger for people walking and driving, natalie, be and that's what officials tell us always. flying debris, standing water, be very, very careful of those two things. >> absolutely. we appreciate your efforts there for us, brian todd, there in new orleans. we want to head up to gulfport, mississippi, to cnn's john zarrella. john? >> reporter: quite a bit again, natalie. and this has been coming on now for well over an hour. pretty much steady like this. and you can see, let's take a look at these lights out here which we couldn't show you before because they were not on but look at the wind being driven through the lights there. you can see the rain being

driven by that wind. the horizontal rain that is just being from east to west. we've had this kind of a flow all day today but now we're really getting steady tropical storm-force winds. and the interesting thing here is, don't forget, we are about 100 miles from where brian todd is in new orleans. so we are well away from the center of the circulation of the storm which just shows how massive a hurricane this is that even this far out from the center you're getting this kind of weather. look in the distance there. that's the gulf of mexico. that's highway 90. that is the main beach road that runs all through mississippi. and one of the big concerns is that as the wind shifts and changes directions, as the storm moves further inland, that the water, the storm surge that dome of water will get pushed up over

the roadway there probably later today. still a good possibility that that might happen. expect it up to 6 to 9 feet of potential storm surge here in the gulfport kbrar. i'm to walk out early and you can get a sense away from the building and you may not be able to see me very well but you get a sense as you step away from the building of just how strong the wind is and u can see that rain just pounding and as you move further out, you see bits of debris, branches from the trees, tree limbs that have snapped off. nothing significant and nothing major. again, one of the things that we have to point out, a good barometer of how good a storm is whether you have electricity. that is a good sign that the winds have not been strong enough, at least not yet to

knockout the power. natalie? >> gulfport decimated by hurricane katrina seven years ago and you were there. as you talk to people today realizing that another storm is bearing down on the anniversary, what were their feelings? what were the types of things that they were saying to you realizing that a storm was coming certainly not as dangerous but certainly one that could do some damage? >> reporter: well, you know, everybody understood that this was a hurricane coming, that it was a category 1, that it was not a katrina. they knew that. but they also knew that they had to prepare. in fact, we stopped at one area where hundreds of people were pouring in to fill sandbag. in fact, mississippi emergency management gave out 80,000 sandbags to people. and people were saying to us, look, we're going to be prepared for this. and if they lived in low-lying areas, these people were -- 110,000 did evacuate. but many of them did understand

that they felt as if they could weather this storm, as long as they were not no low-lying flood-prone areas, they were going to be okay to stay home. >> it's got to be a tough call. anyone who went through katrina who never want to see anything like it again. i can't imagine what people have to go through. we appreciate your reporting, of course, john zarrella there in gulfport, thanks a lot to you and your crew. of course, you can share your photos, video, and experience of isaac. we would love to see the pictures that you have gotten throughout the day. as we see damage and see the wrath of isaac coming in, we will show them on air. cnn.com is where you send your videos a pictures. a quick break and right back with you after this. in communits the country. whether it's supporting a delaware nonprofit that's providing training and employment opportunities, investing in the revitalization of a neighborhood in the bronx,

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well, before pounding louisiana, isaac, of course, played havoc with the republican national convention in tampa. well, today they finally got things well under way and tonight new jersey governor chris christie gave the keynote address. he is, of course, a rising political star. some republicans last year your honored christie to seek the nomination. that's how uninspired many were by mitt romney. well, today it was christie's job to inspire the base of romney, to sell the nominee and his vision and here are some highlights. >> i believe we have become paralyzed. paralyzed for a desire to be loved. our founding fathers had the wisdom to know that social acceptance and popularity were fleeting and this country's principles need to be rooted in grains than the passion of the times but our leaders of the today have decided that it's

more important to be popular to say what is easy and rather than say no when no is what is required. [ applause ] in recent years, we as a country have too often chosen th same path. it's been easy for our leaders to say, not us, not now in taking on the really tough issues. and, unfortunately, we have stood silently by and let them get away with it. but tonight i say enough. tonight, tonight i say together, let's make it much different choice. tonight, we are speaking up for ourselves and stepping up. tonight we're beginning to do what is right and what is necessary to make america great again. let me be clear with the american people tonight. here's what we believe as republicans and what they believe as democrats.

we believe in telling hardworking families the truth about our country's fis sdal fiscal realities, the math of federal spending does not add up. they believe that the american people don't want to hear the truth about the extent of our fiscal difficulties. they believe the american people need to be coddled by big government. they believe the american people are content to live the lie with them. they are wroung. we believe in telling our seniors the truth about our overburdened entitlement. they believe seniors will always put themselves ahead of their grandchildren. they prey on their vulnerabilities with the single purpose of winning the next election. here's their plan. whistle a happy tune while driving us off the fiscal cliff, as long as they are behind the wheel of power when we fall. now, we believe that the majority of teachers in america

know our system must be reformed to put students first so that america can can compete. they believe the educational establishments will put themselves ahead of children, that self-interest will always trump commonsense. they believe in pitting unions against teachers, educators against lobbyists and they believe in teacher union. we believe in teachers. we have a nominee who will tell us the truth and will lead with conviction and now he has a running mate that will do the same. we have governor mitt romney and congressman paul ryan and we need to make him next president and president of the united states. see, you see, because i know mitt romney. i know mitt romney and mitt romney will tell us the hard truths we need to hear to put us back on a path to growth and create good paying private sector jobs in america. mitt romney will tell us the hard truths that we need to hear

to end the for rent of death that is compromising our future and mitt romney will tell us the hard truths we need to hear to end the be baulk kell of putting the greatest health care system in the hands of federal bureaucrats and putting the bureaucrats between an american citizen and her doctor. i believe in america history and there's only one thing missing now. leadership. it takes leadership that you don't get from taking a poll. you see, mr. president, real ears don't follow polls. real leaders change polls. it's now time to stand up. everybody, stand up. because there's no time left to waste. if you're willing to stand up with me for america's future, i will stand up with you if you're willing to fight with me for mitt romney, i will fight with you. if you're to hear the hard truth of america, that truth will bear, i'm here to begin with you

this new era of truth telling tonight. we choose the path that is always defined our nation's history. tonight, we finally and firmly answer the call that so many gener generations have had the courage to answer before us. tonight we stand up for mitt romney as the next president of the united states and together -- and together everybody,ogether we will stand up once again for american greatness for our children and grandchildren. god bless you and god bless america. [ applause ] >> new jersey governor chris christie there rallying the troops, giving the conventions keynote address a short while ago. cnn's primetime coverage of the republican national convention continues wednesday at 7:00 p.m. eastern. vice presidential nominee paul ryan is getting ready for his big closeup.

well, stay right there with us for our special coverage of hurricane isaac. it continues right after this break. ♪ ♪ i can do anything ♪ i can do anything today ♪ i can go anywhere ♪ i can go anywhere today ♪ la la la la la la la [ male announcer ] dow solutions help millions of people by helping to make gluten free bread that doesn't taste gluten free. together, the elements of science and the human element can solve anything. solutionism. the new optimism. but don't just listen to me. listen to these happy progressive customers. i plugged in snapshot, and 30 days later, i was saving big on car insurance. with snapshot, i knew what i could save before i switched to progressive. the better i drive, the more i save.

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-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com hello, i'm natalie allen

welcome to special coverage of hurricane isaac. we want to bring you the latest right now. much of the central gulf coast is feeling this hurricane. the ow-moving storm is over louisiana where it has been for some time. this on the seventh anniversary -- it's hard to believe -- of hurricane katrina. isaac made landfall near the mouth of the mississippi river, with 80-mile-an-hour winds around 6:45 p.m. central time. up to 20 inches of rain is expected as this storm moves ashore. we have core respondents all around the area. we will now look at the path and the impact of the storm, karen. >> i just looked at the data.

there is an area on lake burke called shell beach. they have had a storm surge already of 11 feet. is it low tide there. and this system is just moving right around the coast off the coast of southeastern louisiana. and according to the national hurricane center an their pilots that are in the hurricane hunters and chris crossing the alpha pattern that is moving back and forth across the storm, indications are that this is moving off the coast for the better part of the next 24 hours. so we're going to go through several cycles of high and low tide. but as that storm surge and a lot of the low-lying areas, it could make it to 20 feet, category 1 hurricane, nobody gets too excited about that. however because this is in very

warm water and meandering off the coast making its way to the west and northwest moving at 8 miles an hour. here's a different perspective. i was speaking with chad myers. he said even some of these more discrete cells associated with the bands that are moving on shore as they rotate in off of the gulf you get these little areas like this. but even those can have potential wind gusts of 60, 70, possible 80 miles an hour. wind damage, storm surge, flood damage, the power is out. they are already saying in louisiana in excess of 260,000 people without power. but even into portions of mississippi, alabama and florida a lot of power outagesreported there as well. just going to take a look at the gulf coast region.

here is grand isle roughly in this vicinity. this is where the eye is located. this is going to track a little bit this way and move a little bit to the south. it has no distinct movement over the next day or so. it will rotate the moisture in off of the gulf. this is shell beach right around here on lake boren. high tide around new orleans is at 10:30 local time. they have seen i'm sure well in excess of 3 inches of rainfall. we'll get an update here pretty soon. but throughout the night we will be live on cnn and bring you updates. right now category 1, higher gust and storm surge rainfall totals 20 to 28 inches or more. and that eye just sitting there on a low-lying area.

>> karen mcginness will be back with you shortly. we have correspondents up and down the coast. we have been hearing from brian todd who is in new orleans. looks like the rain and wind are picking up quite a bit there. >> reporter: it really is. this is one of the most intense squalls. an intense rain and wind squall here. can kind of illustrate how tough it is to move around in this thing. if you walk five feet it is tough to move around and it is constantly changing directions. you have to be watchful of debris flying around. there is a lot of debris flying around in jackson square. there is a lot of branches down. officials are telling us 98,000 customers in orleans parish are without power.

the winds are knocking power out left and right here. 250,000 plus people in louisiana are without power. that is about 99% of the total power outages in the gulf region right now. a wind squall coming from this direction. a lot of debris and standing water. these are the two things that are most dangerous in the intense moments of the hurricane. >> so many people out of power. they could be out of power for some time especially since we can't point out enough that this stm is so slow-moving. >> that's right. these power companies will not be able to get out to them until the storm pretty much passes. they don't start to move until the storm passes. you're right. this is a torturously slow-moving storm as it has been approaching this area in the gulf of mexico. it moved slower than experts expected it to move. it is hanging over the area and

pelting us with intense wind and rain, natalie and a lot of potential for isolated flooding in this area. they think the pumping stations in the city of new orleans and around this area where the levies are and everything they think they will work well. but even if the pumping stations are at capacity the flooding could exceed their capacity and you could have a lot of standing water like here in front of me. that will be repeated throughout the city. >> a nerve wracking evening on this anniversary that they are seeing. thank you so much, brian todd. we'll see you again. let's check in in gulfport, mississippi. he is 100 miles from brian but is pelted with rain and not so much the wind and it looks like the power is still on there. >> still on. it's a good sign that all we are experiencing here -- all we're

experiencing is tropical storm force winds. i had my wind meter out there a bit ago and was getting sustained winds at 39 to 40 miles an hour, in that neighborhood. so you know, when you think about what we're looking at here, just here in gulfport, 100 miles away. that gives the viewers a sense of the magnitude of this storm that 100 miles from the center of the circulation you can get sustained winds that we've had for two hours now just relentless, nonstop at tropical storm force. so -- and you know over a long period of time that does some damage. you can see in the light poles up there not as dramatically right now it's laid down just a little bit but wind driven rain through the light poles there. and that has been the way it has been for the past two hours.

almost consistently nonstop. a few short breaks but it goes on and on again. down in the distance there, the gulf of mexico. one of the big concerns is whether we would get storm surge. you can see the way everything is blowing here. it's blowing from the east to the west. the storm is off to our west. counter clockwise circulation. all day and into the night and now into wednesday morning we're getting a wind that is keeping the water off the shoreline. that's a good thing. not getting the storm surge they feared would cover highway 90 here. but as the storm moves inland and the wind direction changes, certainly a possibility we could get water piling up on the roadway later today. this is going to be around for quite some time, as you were mentioning. it is moving so slowly. 1,500 national guardsmen on stand by to move into mississippi if they are needed.

fast boats and rescue units ready for water rescues if necessary. 20 plus inches of rain here and in louisiana. certainly possible a lot of flooding inland. they have tarps and food. they have generators, water, truckloads stationed pre-positioned ready to come in if it's needed once they get a break in the weather. but the break in the weather is not going to come soon enough, that is for sure. look again, natalie, real quick in the lights. you can get an idea how it has picked up again. wind-driven rain through the lights there. and here we are. 100 miles from the center of hurricane isaac. natalie? >> we can appreciate it. and since katrina what has gulfport done to help fortify this area where you are as far

as storm walls or what have you in the event of a storm like this? >> they have done work on the seawalls and the barriers for protection against the water. a lot of places have raised the level of where they are building. they moved all the casinos that used to been a the water sign back to the other side of highway 90. a lot of changes to the power it's all underground now that was knocked down back then. much of the infrastructure in this gulfport area, which was devastated by katrina, has been rebuilt. and i think you're seeing some of the evidence of that right now as a lot of that -- that perhaps in the past even in a tropical storm you might have had power losses. you might have had more damage than we're seeing. we're not seeing or hearing of any reports of anything significant. but the rebuilding since katrina has upgraded the infrastructure

all along this mississippi coastline. >> john, thank you to you and your crew for helping us. we have much more ahead. we'll talk to more people standing by to help in any kind of recovery and rescue. and don't forget for the latest on isaac for the forecast track, go to cnn.com/hurricane. we've got much more ahead. please stay with us for our special coverage as hurricane isaac comes ashore. what's with you?

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welcome back. hurricane isaac continues to bear down on new orleans and the gulf to the area south of new orleans where it came on shore. sustained winds of over 80 miles an hour are being recorded and there are no signs of the hurricane weakening. folks in southern louisiana have been holding their breath. isaac will be the first test for the new multibillion-dollar flood defenses. and we are told now 300,000 homes are without electricity. last hour we had 200,000. it's getting worse there. that is expected to stay that way throughout the storm. they will likely be without power for some time. of course we'll be here keeping you updated on the hurricane as it moves across the southern states. it is hard to imagine leaving behind the wreckage of

your home to help someone with theirs. but that is what the american red cross volunteers are known for in events like isaac. one of them joins with me, sam killy joins me from bourbon street in new orleans. what are you experiencing? >> obviously it's been a long couple of days for us and it's going to be a really long night as you have been talking about with some of your reporters we are starting to see a lot of rain and wind right now. and of course it's been busy for us because this storm has had us sending volunteers to florida and the gulf for the past few days. >> first you had to think about mobilizing in the tampa area. this was a difficult storm to track. did that provide more challenges to figure out where to go and where to set up? >> it's been challenging. but the great thing is, we have

thousands of volunteers at our disposal. right now we know about 2,400 trained red cross workers who are on the ground across the gulf right now. we have had shelters open from florida all the way through texas. and we have supplies positioned in states to help people once the storm passes. >> and as far as settlers go, how many shelters do you have and how many people are in the shelters? how many people have evacuated? >> i have better numbers in the shelters in the morning. but nearly 1,000 people woke up in the shelters this past morning and 60 shelters that were open. that number has grown throughout the day. it is good to see people have been heeding the warnings and they've, you know -- heeded the

warnings and taken part in the evacuations. and you know, depending on what happens, that number could very well grow. >> absolutely. because as we've been mentioning they're in for the long haul with the rain that this storm is going to bring. sam, i'm curious what is different since seven years ago and katrina as far as the quickness of the response, the setup and how the red cross deals with threats like this since the disaster of katrina? >> well, you know, obviously, every disaster response is different. but katrina was a huge disaster. and we all learned a lot of, you know, from that experience. and we're definitely much more better prepared. since katrina, the red cross increased the amount of volunteers that we have. we nearly tripled the amount of disaster volunteers that can respond. we established a nationwide

warehouse system and pre-positioned enough supplies to support 350,000 shelter residents at any moment if we need to. something like this we're not looking at that many people. but if we had to, we could do it. we increased the number of shelter locations. our ability to provide hot meals as well as communications equipment. and we've done a lot to make our national shelter system more accessible to people using technology that's easy for people to go to red cross.org and find locations for shelters and we have applications for smart phones so people can track storms and list themselves as safe and have tools on their smart phones to get through a disaster like this. >> that's a good idea. and i assume with all the volunteers and food at the ready you are in it for the long haul

since this is a storm that will stay around for a few days. >> exactly. we have prepositioned nearly 300,000 meals ready to eat that we can bring in. we have kitchens that are waiting to come in and nearly 200 emergency response vehicles. once the storm has passed there may be a lot of neighborhoods without power for a day or two or longer. we'll be able to cook meals, load them up into vehicles and drive them into affected communities just to get people a warm meal and water and comfort of home. >> i'm sure they like hearing that and would enjoy that. we know you are busy, thanks, very much. of course we keep talking about this is a category 1 storm. but there have been category 2 wind gusts. and of course it is just sitting right atop louisiana and doesn't

appear to be going anywhere fast. that's the problem. let's check in with our meteorologist karen mcginness who is watching the storm for us. not going anywhere. that is the problem. >> that is the breaking news that i have. we haven't changed the intensity at all. it's still a category 1 supporting winds of 80 miles an hour and higher gusts. but want to show you the critical piece of information. the movement is stationary. when we watched this 48 hours ago when it was offshore it was moving north and northwest. then it was moving to the west, northwest. it went from 12 miles an hour to 8 miles an hour around 7 miles an hour. now, it's not doing anything. and that is aggravating an already very dangerous situation. sure we'll see wind dama.

we have seen power outages in excess of 250,000 people in louisiana without power. but also into alabama, mississippi, and in parts of florida, primarily in the panhandle. but with this sstem stationary now and the computer models that were suggesting between 20 and maybe close to 30 inches of rainfall, natalie, for folks who said, you know, maybe not be a category 3 or category 4 hurricane but this is still going to do a lot of damage. with the flooding, that's the thing that in new orleans you always worry about. you could get several squall lines and see some ponding of water, some localized flooding. but with this, with maybe several feet of rainfall, this is going to be quite devastating and the levees are going to be taxed. the rainfall are an 1/2 inch to

an inch an hour. >> some people might pay a little too much attention to the number, the category. and even the category 1 can be devastating as far as the damage, of course, from the flooding. >> natalie, you can get tropical storms, systems that are not at hurricane intensity that have killed people, that have produced quite a bit of damage. and i know that we tend to -- i've lived on the coast. you hear a category 1 you can't get excited about it. but in new orleans is it a different animal. they are so low-lying. they have been vulnerable in the past and are still vulnerable. even with the improvements they have made they are still vulnerable. nearly stationary and it is lying right around this particular bay, grand isle. i believe we have brian who is

right around new orleans. and we've had reporters just covering. they are getting a break. they will be back. but we have the coverage throughout the entire morning hours. we will get an update from the national hurricane center. >> how unusual is it that a hurricane comes to show and sits there? >> we see very fickle aspects of all hurricanes. hurricane hugo off the coast of south carolina, 1989, a little system but it gets into that gulf stream and it mushroomed right before it made landfall. sometimes you get the interaction that the systems just wash out. they become so fickle. no amount of computer models can say what is going to happen. as i mentioned it's a different animal for new orleans because they are low-lying. may be different with a different type of terrain. and being on the backside of this from mobile to morgan city,

tahoma and baton rouge as we go into the next 24 to 48 hours as we heard the general say, a lot of power outages and flooding. it's not going to be over in the short term but in the long term. >> we're going to talk with someone who is riding it out in homa in the next hour. we'll continue on with much more. but now we turn to politics. one of the speakers at the convention tonight was former pennsylvania senator rick santorum who ran against mitt romney for the nomination. santorum was one of the more conservative g.o.p. candidates. popular with the tea party. and he compared his credentials to those of romney. in his address santorum spoke of freedom and liberty, family, and

traditional marriage, education, and hard work. here are highlights of his address. >> my grandfather, like millions of other immigrants didn't come here for a government guarantee of income equality or government benefits to take care of his family. in 1923, there were no government benefits for immigrants except one, freedom. [ applause ] under president obama, the dream of freedom and opportunity has become a nightmare of dependency, with almost half of america receiving some sort of government assistance. president obama spent four years and borrowed $5 trillion trying to convince you that he could make things better for you to put your trust in him and the

government to take care of every problem. the result? massive debt, anemic growth and millions more unemployed. the president's plan didn't work for america. because that's not how america works. we understand many americans don't succeed because the family that should be there to guide them and serve as the first rung on the ladder of success isn't there. or is badly broken. most single mothers do heroic work and an amazing job raising their children. [ applause ] but if america is going to succeed, we must stop the assault on marriage and the family in america today.

from lowering taxes to reforming social programs, mitt romney and paul ryan are dedicated to restoring the home where married moms and dads are pillars are strong communities raising good citizens in our neighborhoods. [ applause ] but president obama's policies undermine the traditional family. weaken the education system and this summer, he showed us once again he believes in government handouts and dependency by waving the work requirement for welfare. i helped write the welfare reform bill. we made the law crystal clear, no president can wave the work requirement.

but as with his refusal to enforce our immigration laws, president obama rules like he is above the law. [ applause ] americans take heed, when a president can simply give a speech or write a memo and change the law to do what the law says he cannot do, we will no longer be a republic. [ applause ] four and a half years ago i stood over a hospital isolette staring at the tiny hands of our newborn daughter who we hoped was perfectly healthy. the doctors later told us that bella -- that bella was incompatible with life and to

prepare to let go. we didn't let go. [ applause ] i thank god that america still has one party that reaches out their hands in love tolift up all our god's children, born and unborn. [ applause ] a vote for mitt romney and paul ryan will put our country back in the hands of leaders who understand what america can and for the sake of our children,

must be to keep the dream alive. thank you and god bless you and god bless america. thank you. thank you. [ applause ] >> rick santorum's moment tonight in tampa. cnn's primetime coverage of the republican national convention continues wednesday at 7:00 p.m. eastern. short break and we'll be right back with more hurricane coverage. at usaa, we believe honor is not

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it comes ashore. here's the latest on hurricane isaac. these pictures are of gulfport, mississippi, some 100 miles north of new orleans. but you can certainly get a sense of the wind that is picking up in this region. much of the central gulf coast is feeling this very slow-moving storm right now. and of course as you know, this is the seventh anniversary of hurricane katrina. that just doesn't seem right. isaac is bringing heavy rain, high winds to southeastern louisiana. much of the very low-lying areas are getting it right now. storm surge and flooding is expected. and now we're told the number keeps rising as far as people losing power. 310,000 people without power right now in louisiana. now in florida, people are being ordered to evacuate parts of downtown pensacola. we keep getting updates and will

keep bringing them to you as we get the latest on what the storm is doing to several cities and states that are getting it from florida to alabama to louisiana right now. we want to get to cnn's brian todd. he has been in new orleans for us and certainly seeing the winds picking up there, brian. >> reporter: the winds picking up and the rain intense in downtown new orleans. we can update you on the power outages. this neighborhood just went dark a minute or so ago. for blocks as far as we can see. six blocks in every direction it just went black. this neighborhood just lost power. that number 300,000 plus just being added on to. a lot of wind and rain pelting us in jackson square. a lot of debris flying. we have been told by new orleans city authorities that they are

warning residents of reports of street flooding in 12 intersections of the city and there is a lot of standing water in these areas. we'll show you some of it in front of me here. these are areas that officials are warning citizens do not go near these, avoid them if you can. we have more reports of standing water, ponding and street flooding in new orleans. they are confident that the new pumping systems are going to be able to pump a lot of the water out as far as avoiding massive flooding here. but when they are at capacity the amount of rainfall can exceed their capacity. some of the lights just went on behind me. these power outages are sporadic and inconsistent and can be corrected even in a driving storm like this. >> you mentioned the water pump system. has the system had the chance to really be tested since katrina?

>> not so much. the pumping stations and the levees and seawalls were upgraded after hurricane katrina. the army corps of engineers did a lot of work in a relatively short period of time. they had a bit of a dry run in hurricane gustav three years ago. but that was not the test they wanted to give it at the time. so the pumping stations and levees may be going through their first test right about now. >> and help us appreciate the levee system. a lot of people said you hear the word billion dollars and refurbished levee system but a lot of people say no way, i wouldn't take a chance of getting out. >> the levees have been upgraded and the flood gates and walls have been upgraded. some have averaged 15 feet high

and now they are 30 feet high. the pumping stations are impressive. the tubes go out of the city and into lake pontchartrain and other areas. there are 133 miles of levees, seawalls and flood gates that have been upgraded. and the levees often look like earthen berms that line the rivers. but you know, so sometimes it looks like a very basic thing and often looks like a very complicated thing when you see the flood gates. it's a combination of a lot of engineering and a lot of work that went into upgrading these things and officials are hoping of course that the systems are going to come through. they are confident they will. that's why they did not order a mandatory evacuation of downtown new orleans. >> brian todd, lights back on

but u are out in the driving rain. we'll let you take a break for a moment. now we'll move to gulfport, mississippi. what are the latest conditions there, john? >> reporter: it has gotten progressively worse here, surprisingly. we thought we would see the steady, constant, 40, 50-mile-an-hour wind. but certainly intensified over the last course of about five minutes or so since you have been talking to brian. and you know, actually laid down a little bit right now. but you know, take a look at the tree right up here. you see the tree blowing right in through here. and we've seen all of this all night just constantly, constantly driving rain, driving wind. and you can really see it again as we've been pointing out all night, in the lights as you have

that horizontal rain been driven by this intense wind. again it's been non-stop now, i'd say going on about three hours that we've had this kind of weather here. just a minute ago, the lights actually went off and we had that intense squall. went off across the street there. that is a pier out into the water over there and all those lights went off and came back on right away. we thought maybe power was finally starting to go off. it flickered during that last squall. but for viewers, that's the gulf of mexico out there. that's highway 90, the beach road that runs right across the -- all across mississippi through here and parts of alabama and florida. and the concern was that that would get overwashed with storm surge. but the wind, as everybody can see, has been blowing down the shoreline from east to west

because the storm is rotating counterclockwise and it is way west of us now. we are getting a flow from east to west. later in the day as it moves inla although it is not moving at all right now it could change directions and could see it. back more than 20 years ago, hurricane juan sat just off homa, louisiana for days. not as powerful as what we are seeing here, a tropical storm that fluctuated but it stayed for days just inundating that area. they had terrible inland flooding in plaquemines parish and down in all those low-lying areas, fond du lac and homa. that's something you have to watch for. if that stays stationary you're right, rainfall is going to continue to build. as you get, you know, more and

more of the lingering wind and rain you saturate the ground and the root system on the shallower trees they start to topple over and then the power lines go down and you have an issue. but take a look real quick. you can see the wind really picking up again and blowing through the lights there, the wind-driven rain. and three hours that we've seen of this. >> that's amazing. do you think that this area because of the way that the hurricane is moving is going to avoid significant storm surge? >> yeah, right now, i don't think there's much doubt we'll avoid significant storm surge because of the way the storm is moving away from us. but when it starts to get by us there will be some that will build up but nowhere near, you know, the levels that they saw back in katrina and probably not even the levels that they thought they might have earlier

in the day from this one. but, the's still a good possibility that you could see some storm surge and on the lower portions of highway 90 could see inundation of the roadway and overwash with a lot of sand. once the tide comes up too, we're not at high tide for several hours yet. >> that's a good point too. we appreciate it again in gulfport, thanks so much. we'll check back in with karen mcginness. john saying they have seen three hours of rain, and they have got many more hours to go. >> when i watched john about four hours he right at the edge of the eye and it was calm and i don't believe there was any rainfall. if there was it was very, very light. but now he is getting on the backside of the storm, of the hurricane. and now he's getting pummelled

and rainfall rates are about an inch an hour. and this is low-tide. we haven't seen the high tide. the high tide is around 10:30 local time. so the storm surge, the rainfall, the wave heights going to all have their huge impact here. here's the latest information. winds associated with hurricane isaac at 80 miles an hour. higher gusts. it is stationary. we were looking at it moving at 12 miles an hour and then at 8 or 9 miles an hour. but this stationary report is so critical for this region. it could be there another day or so. so a day of very heavy rainfall rates of 1/2 inch to an inch an hour is going to be exceedingly substantial and devastating. here's a different perspective. but we get these bands cong in off of the gulf. you can see where these yellow

and orange shaded areas those are heavier cells. and i was talking with chad myers right before he left. he did a terrific job of covering hurricane isaac. but some of the cells in themselves c see wind gusts of 60, 70 miles an hour. the eye is kind of ragged looking right now. but that's not to diminish this hurricane. and it is going to meander right around this region we think at least for the short term. hurricane hunters are investigating it. they do an alpha pattern. they'll go into it and criss cross and take their measurements and go back across and look and see if it is strengthened or weakened. but they are continuing to investigate at different flight levels to see what the intensity is. and as we look from our perspective on the radar we're looking at mostly -- most of the

energy on the eastern and the northern edge. when this was off shore the northern edge was eroded and didn't have a lot of energy. but because it slowed down and was picking up energy off the warm water we started to see the central pressure drop, all indications it was strengthening and we kept saying this is going to turn into a hurricane. and finally it did. there is a tornado watch that goes until 7:00 in the morning. and the rainfall are the big, important factors concerning hurricane isaac. in this red-shaded area including new orleans and lake pontchartrain we are looking at 20-plus inches of rainfall. but that's not it. it's headed toward baton rouge as we go for the next 24 and 36 hours, natalie. more than 300,000 without power

now in louisiana. >> that's amazing. and folks in other parts of the states waiting to see what it brings them in possible tornados and rain. don't forget for the latest on isaac's forecast track go to cnn.com/hurricane. we're covering it here and there and all up and down the coast. we'll continue right after this. great shot. how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet? by building on the cisco intelligent network they're able to serve up live video, and instant replays,

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welcome back to our special coverage of hurricane isaac which right now is dumping a

huge amount of rain on many states and many areas of louisiana are without power. at last count some 310,000 people without power and included with that is our affiliate television station wwl out of new orleans. and i'm told that the tv station is up and running. these are pictures of their coverage. thanks to a generator. they are able to stay on and continue to bring important information to the people of the region throughout new orleans even though the station is without power. they're doing interviews right now. you are looking at the picture of their coverage, wwl. we want to give a shoutout to them for their hard work under duress and these conditions in new orleans. hurricane isaac made landfall in louisiana tuesday night and has shown no signs of weakening.

a reporter was in the midst of the storm in jean lafitte, louisiana. >> reporter: it's starting to get ugly out here, guys. i'm blocked partially now by a building. one of the technical things for us is to keep our satellite truck against a strong building so we can protect it. across the street you see one of the parish cars coming by. but across the street the only thing with lights is the command center that has a generator. and you see the mandatory evacuation warning which is you shouldn't be here but a lot of folks stayed. and a lot of folks were volunteering to put up sandbags. sandbags as far as you could see along the bayou. but this isn't the thing they are worried about. they are worried about the back end of the storm. the water will come flooding up

the bayou. they say they could take a tidal surge of 6 1/2 feet before they get water on the street. >> thank you for that report. as the storm surge moved into the gulf, waters were rising at a rapid rate, surprising our reporters on the ground the speed. we are in grand isle, louisiana, the eye of this hurricane. >> reporter: in grand isle, louisiana the darkness of the night makes this experience of sitting through hurricane isaac that much more dramatic. the wind has been howling through here in dramatic fashion at some points so loud it made you worried about whether you could hear the debris flying around to protect ourselves. that is one thing that is troubling about working this storm here in the darkness of grand isle. all the power is out except for

the homes that have generators like the one we are working out of. but it's easy to lose track of how quickly the water is coming up around us. we are in the second floor of this home in grand isle. but look at the water that has collected. in one area you want to look at is the building just across from us here. you see the brick that is exposed just above the water line. once the water gets to the siding that's when we have problems. that's when the water gets into the ground floor of this house. we don't want that to happen. the water has gone inside the garage which is lower. we are standing above it right now. the water and the storm surge was pushing the water through here. it looked like a strong tidal current that was blowing around the house. that was nerve wracking. here in the darkness you lose

track of how quickly that water has been coming up and how quickly it can come up. in 30 minutes we saw the water go up about a foot. i talked to city officials who are hunkered down in a command center just a few blocks away. they have spent most of the night unable to make passes of the streets because the weather conditions have been so treacherous and the water levels have been going up. but we do know there is a light bit of structural damage and roofs that have been damaged. but the real question will be how many power lines have been knocked down and how much of the roadways the power lines are blocking. all of that we'll figure out once the sun comes up on wednesday morning to get a better sense ofhe extent of this. we are now in the eye of the storm and we're hoping that the backside is not as strong as what we saw on the front side. but that is the process we'll go

through in the hours ahead tonight. >> he is at grand isle, one of the low-lying areas, extremely vulnerable to flooding. coming up in the next hour we'll talk to a resident of homa, louisiana who is riding the storm out. we'll find out what they are facing. stay with us, our special coverage of hurricane isaac continues right after this continues right after this break. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

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