it did not hit new orleans. new orleans was on the good side of katrina. the problem with this storm, new orleans is dead center of where they believe this storm is going. it is a tropical storm but the forecasters expect it will get stronger. we will get into the reasons in a little while. they are worried about people in low-lying areas, evacuating low lying areas in the par irish to the south and areas of st. bernard par irish but new orleans will not be evacuated. even if they wanted to, three hours from now they could not physically do so. they believe they made changes that will make the area as safe as it can be. a lot of rain is on the way. they expect severe flooding in many areas. an area that has been economically devastated is trying to recover from what happened before. the worst of this even if it does hit new orleans is not the wind. it will be the rain and the storm surge. the worst of it may, again, be to the east, on the coast of the state of mississippi. now to the fox extreme weather center. it looks like this has slowed down in forward

it's about 80 mileless northwest of new orleans. sits on a higher ground than new orleans.ut it will get its share of heavy rain and gusty winds. ana, what are the current conditions? >> ray, i have to tell you, it seems that judging from the other correspondent shots that i have drawn the long straw. but we know it will be short lived. we are getting some high winds here, not incredibly high and some rain off and on, only the loft half hour or so. it has stopped here at the moment. we are live at the department of homeland secury and emergency preparedness center here. it's the central nervous system of operations. we are getting all sorts of updates from emergency management and governor bobby jindal. there are manned tory and voluntary evacuations in place, but of course, life vests have to go on. the people who live here and have decided to choose to ride out the storm have been asked to stay put and really hunker down. they have been boarding up windows and buying batteries and filling sandbags, buying up the essentials, like food and, of course, water. now, governor j

french quarter in new orleans. bands of rain are coming into new orleans. worst of the storm will be here overnight and into tomorrow through the tomorrow and into the next day. right now we are on lake pontchartrain. surf is up. casey stegall. first to reed timmer winds have gotten strong. >> we have had intense band coming through. every times intense band comes through intense more and waters will rise. the parking lot has become part of the gulf of mexico just off the casino here waveland, mississippi. right neither louisiana, mississippi border. the way that the shoreline is oriented here. all those easterly winds are piling the water into marsh land around sea level and even below. it's definitely a worse case scenario here in terms of this hurricane. in terms of the track. but thankfully this isn't going to a category 3 hurricane or it could have been a lot worse. the flooding we are seeing here is really bad in waveland. >> >> shepard: reid, we know there is a loft rain. we were expecting that waveland is a town that during hurricane katrina was alm

west of me in new orleans, the plaquemines parish, which is south of new orleans, the levees, some are actually just earthen levees, so big mounds of dirt and ground. the water has risen so much and the wind is blowing that water, the water is up and over some of the levees and coming into some of the neighborhoods, flooding some homes. that's the latest i've heard in that area. no levee has been broken yet, and no levee has been busted open. no breaching. just overtopping of levees. the levees are still holding, but the big concern not only from new orleans and points eastward here across the mississippi coast and gulfport is the relentless wind and the rain. again, the rain could last well into tomorrow morning. and the wind also is going to stay in that tropical storm force gusts well into thursday. we're trying to batten down the hatches and weather the storm. u.s. 90 behind me has been closed because of the storm surge, the seawall and the ocean or the mississippi sound is already up to that seawall, and high tide is about four hours from now. so we're expecting a higher surge her

is new orleans ready? >> yes. and the conditions we have, we put -- the federal government has spent $10 billion on the levees. much of the city infrastructure has been replaced. people have invested in their homes. many of them have been raised. yes, the city is better prepared and i think the people are better prepared skruas a result the investment that's been made since katrina. >> general, are you concerned at all you do not have mandatory evacuations that were ordered for new orleans? officials are relying on the levee system that has not yet been tested and there are folks in the city. is that a problem? >> it would be, suzanne, because that levee system was designed primarily to keep the surge water out. the problem with new orleans, before katrina and ever since the city's been there is how we get the water out. if we get a sustained flow of water coming in from the storm, that could be problematic. that's why most of the houses in the city have naturally been raised off the ground. so the water from the

not just a new orleans storm. in the middle of the country will feel effects from this, as well. good news, jim pointed out some of the rain will go to drought-stricken states. which is good news, certainly not for folks further south who are saturated. of course we will keep an eye on that throughout the morning. stay tuned for more hurricane coverage in a second. insight from an award-winning reporter in new orleans who knows the city extremely well and what a hurricane can do to it. that's coming up later this half-hour. pulitzer prize award winning reporter will talk to us. >>> the rest of your wednesday weather, aside from all the rain, showers and thunderstorms across texas from midland to dallas. dallas to midland. record highs with afternoon storms in the rockies, heating up across the midwest. pleasant in the northeast. >> 80s from new orleans to new england. all the people without power, hot, sticky. 90s from minnesota down to texas. triple digits in billings, colorado, colorado springs i should say as w

that ruined new orleans in 2005.emember a category 3 hurricane named kathryn did not hit new orleans. it hit mississippi and yet new orleans way to the west got a 19 foot storm surge that ruined the city and flooded the big easy and left of the streets of the beautiful town covered exactly senyears ago, that kathryn hit the coast line and new orleans carries the scar. by any account new orleans is better prepared now than it was then with billions of flood control and levy improvement this storm is not as strong but that time, the storm did not hit new orleans. this is it predicted to hit new orleans directly and if that happens, according to those here, all bets are off. they don't know if it is it a category one or two or stronger. they don't know where it will hit but now the best thinking here just on the left of the map of new orleans. if that happens twill be a first and if that happens tis it a worst case sceniario. mayor of new orleans issued a warning to the citizens of this he told them to leave if they fee

new orleans is quite a place. we will have coverage from down in tampa where jay wallace and the team are getting ready for you. bret baier and megyn tearing up ellicott city. our abundant nats is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america and supporting wind and solar. though all energy development comes with some risk, we're committed to safely and responsibly producing natural gas. it's not a dream. america's natural gas... putting us in control of our energy future, now. >>shepard: hurricane isaac on the way to new orleans and will affect the entire gulf coast region. the weather center said if you took this storm as it stretches 250 miles from the center with tropical storm force winds, we have that satellite loop, you take the storm and put it in the middle of the gulf it would stretch from texas. those bands are on the east coast of florida that is from this storm. to the right of tampa. that to on the east coast of florida all the way to the texas panhandle,

jim cantore in new orleans, that brings us to lester holt, who is also in new orleans. so lester with this eye creeping, with so much rain and water headed your way, we're really all going to see what $14 billion purchased in taxpayer money there in public works programs to take care of this water. >> let me first say, jim 4 it right. beating is the word for what we're taking. i have to tell you, i've seen water coming down the mississippi waves here that you can surf on tonight. brian, and we haven't even seen the worst of this, the mayor says they've done everything they can to prepare for this storm, he says it's time to hunker down, that's what folks are doing, everybody here is mindful of what's add stake, they remember katrina, some 1400 deaths, $135 billion in damage, and this is only a category one, they know it has a potential for loss of life. just hours before the rain and wind of isaac's leading edge rolled into town. engineers for the first time in the face of a real hurricane closed this massive new flood gate. pulling the trigger on a billion dollar post

she's in new orleans. good morning, danielle. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. wind and rain has been ripping through the french quarter here. then if you look over to my right shoulder behind me on a building, there is a sign that is just dangling in the wind. we've seen many of those signs ripped from buildings here this morning, and this is really just the beginning of the storm. isaac is coming ashore with a furry. vicious winds and heavy rain are barrelling down on coastal cities in four different states. the storm is knocking out trees and taking down power lines. in new orleans alone, more than 300,000 have lost power by the early morning. violent waves are hurling down along the coast and storm surges up to 12 feet high are leaving low-lying areas under water. >> strong winds, heavy rain for long periods of time could produce flooding well away from the coast. >> reporter: the storm is expected to last in new orleans at least 24 hours and could bring more than a foot of rain. >> we're in the heart of this fight. we're in the hunker down phase. >> reporte

are in new orleans?ave they hunkered down? are they in their homes? how are people doing? >> well, first of all the conditions. the conditions here are fairly consistent since the sun came up, and fairly strong wind and we are sitting in jackson square in the french quarter and like you saw with david mattingly, getting blasted with rain that feels like needles. everybody has left since katrina, and they take the storms much more serious than they used to in this city. and there are people hunkering down in place, and it was interesting around and about and not much traffic and the businesses not closed down and not traditional, because used to be that you would come here and people would party all night long, and that has changed. katrina was a deadly wake-up call, and the fact that the storm comes on the seventh anniversary is extremely sobering here, and no one forgets what happened around this area. >> martin, i recognize the french quarter and where you are, but at the time of katrina, s some of the

showing the huge storm moving into the gulf, sights set on new orleans and areas surrounding new orleanso rob marciano at the port of new orleans this morning. rob, good morning. >> good morning, soledad. we're at the river front close to where the cruiselines line up and pick up and drop off passengers. that's not happening today. much of the ports is closed, at least the bridges open and closed via draw bridge. the bridge you see behind me, an iconic structure, the gno as they like to call it locally. one thing underneath the bridge is the white caps on the mississippi. it looks to be flowing the wrong way which can happen in these things. it happened in gustav when we had persistent east and northeast winds. at least the top service of the water looks to be flowing in the wrong direction. this is one of the battles we're goinging to up against today as this storm gets closer. you got rivers that will be at times kind of be getting backed up. you have the storm sturnlg that comes in, 6 to 12 feet of it. not only on the east side of new orleans but around lake area and across southweste

there's new orleans, the port of new orleans right there where you are. the heavy band will probably end in the next 15 minutes but there are more -- many, many more bands rotating around the center with their eye on you, anderson. >> chad is saying many more bands of rain expected. this one is going to end in about 15 minutes or so. chad, are you still expecting 15, 20 inches of rain here? >> i absolutely do. i even have a scarier number for you. this is a map that is kind of difficult to look at. a lot of colors here. let me draw it out for you. here is new orleans proper and as it moves ahead, we have all of this rain down here across parts of the delta. shawn, go ahead and move that. nope. i guess that's not going to happen. we will absolutely get at least 20 to 25 inches now of rain in the mississippi delta. >> wow. >> yeah, it's just incredible because the storm simply is not moving. i knew it would move. just have to kick it. new orleans to slidell all the way up to alexandria, that's ten inches plus in that entire area right there. ten inches cove

we are heading now to new orleans. jonathan seere has an update. >> we are still getting heavy winds and heavy rains trying to keep our satellite signal up as long as we can. our truck parked behind a building getting as much shield from the wind as possible even though our truck operators told me that the trucks being bumped around with heavy winds. i am certainly getting blown around on the sidewalk. there are reports that one of the levees not here in new orleans but in plackman's parish has been over topped and there is flooding in a section of the parish. the president says he confirms fox news two parish employees who were out inspecting the levy became stranded in the flooding that resulted. they are okay. they are in radio contact. right now crews are going out with vehicles to rescue them. just an indication of the power of the storm. down there in plackman's parish the storms are predicted to be anywhere from 6-12 feet. inplann inland it's expected to dump huge amounts of rain across louisiana in small amount

here in new orleans.ut the levees, some of them obviously failed during katrina. how are they supposed to handle the storm, do they feel like they're shored up and ready to go? >> reporter: the mayor of new orleans is absolutely confident the city is prepared, that the levees will hold. they were repaired, reinforced after hurricane katrina. now new orleans, they are taking precautions. they're concerned here about people who live outside of the levee protection system. they want those people to heed warnings and to get out of the city. but new orleans thinks that they're ready and that those levees will hold. we will see. >> you said that the engineers think that, that those levees will hold. what, what do the people, the what do the people, the comfortable and how confident are they in the new levee system that they have been working on since katrina in 2005? >> reporter: well, you know, people really aren't taking too many chances. i mean, granted there are still some tourists here walking along the do

in new orleans. shut down airports and put power lines down and people without power, sometimes they will have a hard time keeping up. with the rainfall rates that we're going to have with this storm. >> we will continue to check in with you. chad, appreciate that. let's go back to wolf in tampa. wolf? >> thanks very much. i'm worried about the elderly people. and the power shortages and people in hospitals. if they lose power, that could be a big deal. >> talking about what happened last time with katrina and the elderly in new orleans. tomorrow on tuesday, mitt romney will be arriving and his five sons are here and his wife will be here. the speeches are getting under way. in the afternoon. there will be a lot of them. it's a day short. they start early. >> a roll call as well. that includes the wife of the nominee. she is speaking tomorrow night tuesday night. and candy crowley near the podium. candy, what can you tell us about tomorrow? >> two big speakers tomorrow night. ann romney will kick off

he is live on canal street in new orleans. talk to us about the situation in new orleans now jie.picked up over the last couple -- >> it has pibbed up over the last couple -- picked up over the last couple hours. for the city limits on canal street to the last hour or so it has picked it up a notch. it has been strong all day. we are really feeling it as we get closer and closer inland here. right now it has picked up the pace. it is a dangerous place to be outdoors or if you are in your house, stay inside. the bulk of it, the biggest brunt is coming through right now. >> sean, what did most people in new orleans do? >> that's a great question. and i don't mean to make light of it, i don't necessarily think they expected this much. this is such an unpredictable storm that a lot of people up until earlier today this this wasn't even a hurricane. it was tropical storm. for the most part people here, they stayed. so you are talking maybe 20 to 25% of the people in the new orleans metro area evacuated, but other than that most of the people are here in new orleans riding this thing ou

>> jon: the people of new orleans -- >> don't ever go here. >> jon: the people of new orleans -- theh this hurricane -- >> didn't seem to mind last night. >> jon: settle down. [cheers] >> jon: the people of new orleans. what do they think of sarah palin? what's their feeling? how are they -- how are they coping? >> when we -- when we start tape, we'll tell the audience and then -- >> jon: this is all live, baby. this is beautiful. this is news. i think beauty is in the eye of the beholder. what are we going to find out about sarah palin? i heard -- and this might not be true -- she is made up of discarded organs from cadavers. is that true? it just came out today. >> it must be nice, jon, to have a little liberal salon. [laughter] [applause] >> jon: there goes all the interview preparation in one tiny pile. >> as i keep will itting you, putting my reporter hat -- as i keep telling you, putting my reporter hat on, those of us in the real news business, jon, we've got pressures you won't know about. >> jon: you will be in st. paul all week? >> yeah. i'm here all week. take care of your

new orleans located now -- creeping west of new orleans located now about 54 miles west of new orleans. wind are 64 miles an hour. let's look at the satellite picture. the red are the color -- the redder the colors, the higher the cloud tops. if you see more orange and blues, it's better. it means it's not increasing in intensity. there is an additional 4 to 8 inches of rain on the way in the track to new orleans. >>> from collapsed buildings to downed power lines, isaac's winds are making their mark. we'll go right now to care rep in new orleans keeping her eye on all -- care-in new orleans keeping her eye on all the -- karen in new orleans keeping her eye on all the developments. >>> officials say the more than $10 million they invested in the levee system africa treen has definitely paid off, but the -- of katrina has definitely paid off, but the high flooding remains. dozens have been rescued from flooded homes, some of them not able to follow evacuation orders. >> we tried to leave and then we didn't becae we had nowhere to go. >> reporter: hundreds of thousands of people are with

the rain has picked up across new orleans. they had a wind gust about 70 miles per hour in downtown new orleans in the past hour. when you take a look at the radar, it is just extraordinary. the bad news, the storm moving very slowly. >> it is staying there which means that you get more rain. >> it is sitting and spinning. still a hurricane. maximum wind still 80 with gusts to 90. i don't know if we have live shots or if we'll go straight to the radar. let's take a look. there is your radar. you can see the slow-moving nature. note is the banding features, the dark are yellow and oranges just pulling that up off the northern gulf. so this story will continue to develop here during the course of the day. the heavy rain and gusty wind will continue across southeast louisiana, mississippi and even parts of alabama here for several more hours. and by several, i moon maybe 12 more hours because the storm is movinso slowly and then they can start to clean up. but the storm is still developing and still very strong at this hour. the

especially in areas right around new orleans. and the storm itself, you can see near new orleans.worst of it up here, new orleans to the east. and we're seeing this next high tide cycle with flooding. for everyone else out there, we also want to prepare you for your morning and get you out the door this morning. going to be a warm, sunny, beautiful day in many areas of the northeast and mid-atlantic. no problems. yesterday we had that horrendous flooding in charleston, south carolina. there's going to be still a chance of storms today in the southeast but not like what you saw yesterday. but from atlanta to orlando, a chance of storms. and hot in the drought zone. this will be one of the stories that will develop in the days ahead. the rain from isaac. we want that up in arkansas, missouri and illinois and indiana. and it looks like they're going to get it, lynn. probably the heaviest rainfall those areas have seen maybe since spring or winter. >> the one good nugget coming out of hurricane isaac. bill, thanks so much. >>> coming up, lindsay's off the hook. and the biebs comes to

>>> on our broadcast tonight from new orleans, hard hit. isaac has moved out but it's brought a wave of misery to millions of people here along the gulf coast. tonight the death toll is rising. entire neighborhoods are still under water. for the most part new orleans passed the most important post katrina test. we will talk to the mayor about what went right and what went wrong. and about last night, in tampa mitt romney's big moment. a more personal side of the candidate than audiences have seen before but did clint eastwood's opening act steal the show? eastwood's opening act steal the show? "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good evening. what a couple days it's been, from the gop convention to the hurricane here along the gulf coast, and so after wrapping up our convention coverage we wanted to come here to new orleans to check on what the storm did and did not do to the city and region starting with this number. about 500,000 people here in louisiana are going to be heading into another night t

she was reporting live there from new orleans.you can see, we mentioned power outages are a problem. heavy rains and flooding there. we'll bring you the latest right here on news4. >>> of course, the storm is causing concerns about a possible spike in gas prices. but it appears the damage may not be as bad as first feared. cnbc has that story. good morning. >> good morning. actually the opposite of higher prices is. aing. energy prices, oil, gasoline, natural gas are all lower. it appears for now the storm has spared gulf coast refineries and rigs from any major damage. oil and gas companies have shut most facilities in the gulf of mexico, cutting output from the region 90%. that was done as a precautionary measure. still have to wait and see how that affects its actual output. back to you. >> great to see you. >>> a hero is honored for risking his life to save others during a violent storm around here. he got the award for bravery and courage last night. he helped dozens of children, coaches and parents get to safety as a roof bl

can the pumps get 20 inches of rain out of new orleans? that's the question they're going to have to answer tonight. no question, this looks like it's going to be one of the worst blows that we've seen since katrina and possibly gustav back in 2008 and the big question at the end of the day is, will new orleans be able to keep the crescent city dry. >> all right, jim cantore starting us off from new orleans. >>> nbc's lester holt has also made his way to that city. lester is standing by as well. lester, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. to answer jim's question, authorities here do believe the pump system will hold here. it's been upgraded. the city officials have basically said they will not be caught flat-footed as they were seven years ago by katrina. the hurricane warning center is telling folks that preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion. the big concern, the water, especially in those low-lying parishes to the south of new orleans that are outside the levee protection system. when word

the official track takes it over new orleans or very close to over new orleans here and making its wayo the north during the day tomorrow and into thursday. again, i don't think that's what's going to happen. we'll talk much more about that. we'll stay down here with you from new orleans, i'm meteorologist doug kammerer. >> all right, doug, thanks. stay with news 4 for the on hurricane isaac. doug kammerer is live in new orleans and the latest tonight on news 4 at 5:00 and you can also track the storm and get the latest information at nbcwashington.com. >>> a chopper covering breaking news out west became the news story with a dramatic emergency landing. the helicopter sprung an oil leak yesterday in los angeles. the cabin filled with smoke, but the pilot kept a cool head while he brought the chopper down in a vacant lot in the hollywood area. >> we were coming down, i was watching my instruments and everything was staying normal, i had had engine power, good temperatures, good powers and i had a healthy engine and all i needed was to put it on the ground. >> luckily nobody was hurt. >

hurricane katrina absolutely devastated new orleans, new orleans was going through its own issues but run of the tornadoic activity and the storm surge. some of the areas saw 32 feet of storm surge, if you can imagine that. then again, now, seven years later, they're going through the same thing to a lesser degree but just a significant amount of flooding this time around, tamron. >> all right, thanh, thank you very much. lessons learned. not very far far the mayor of new orleans as well as army corps of engineers, the national guard are all huddled in an emergency operation center. that didn't exist with hurricane katrina. there's still more are lessons to be learned and the state senator who spoke with us bus nursing homes and whether they should look at the law and put stricter laws on evacuating is those who perhaps can't out walk out on their own. still more to learn even seven years later. we go to a quick break. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] away... is as much about getting there... ♪ ...as it is being there. ♪ [ birds chirping ] away is where the days are packed with

joining us this morning from new orleans is a superintendent of the new orleans police department.sir. thank you for talking with us. what's different this time around in what you manage than seven years ago? >> there are so many differences. since katrina there's been hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars of infrastructure built and put in place with flooded protection. we have the most state-of-the-art command and control systems that we use now to make sure we can seamlessly cooperate and coordinate our efforts with local, state, and federal officials. we don't want to lose the opportunity to send our best wishes to those fallen in the path of isaac. there has been some death, devastation and destruction from wind and water. here in new orleans we feel comfortable and strong and our response, our government's response and our ability to get through this storm but, remember, the best plan for any storm is to be ready to evacuate if necessary. we don't see that yet f. we do, we'll let people know. it will come together very nicely. >> let's talk about your department's resp

that includes new orleans.fall and most of that will come within a 12-hour period. that would be over the rate that the pumps can handle. there's going to be significant flooding in the city. the question is do the levee walls hold the storm surge as well, at least a 6 to 12 foot storm surge as this comes onshore. regardless of the strength, the circulation is so large and the way the gulf of mexico's floor is set up, we'll get a significant surge, not only here but across the southern mississippi coastline. you talk about the katrina anniversary and this storm's approach which will be similar in surge but not in size, so the same people affected by katrina will be affected by isaac, just not to the extent that katrina was. preliminary evacuations, just voluntarily here within the city. they are not going to make it mandatory until it becomes a 2 or 3 and frankly it's too late for that. there are no shelters of last resort. they have a handful of smaller shell terz for homeless people to go into. they have warn

martin savidge, live in new orleans for us. >>> rob marciano is also live in new orleans. he's watching all of this and how the levee system is handling this. wait until you see a structure being almost literally shredded behind him. >> winds switched. here is the river. winds going this way last night pushing the water up river against the flow. now winds are coming out of the east. you can see white caps there coming out of the east and bashing up this side of the wall. by the way, the river up here is not going to overtop. the levee that protects the city of new orleans that's been here for years is not going to over top. the levee that surrounds the city is beefed up by the feds. that's holding up fine. as far as what's going on in plaquemines parish, they are plaquemines parish private levees. they have been overtopped and continue to be overtopped. hopefully, we don't get a hole in the levee. >> right. also, we want to remind you rob marciano was up wind from that structure so if it did lose its integrity, it would not have endangered his life or our crew. this incre