MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012
Hurricane 2.0
POSTED BY ALEJANDRO DE LOS RIOS ON MON, AUG 27, 2012 AT 12:06 PM
- Screengrab taken from Google
- A view of Google's Crises Management map for Isaac
(Photo : NHC) National Hurricane Center. August, 27, 2012. 11 am.
Tropical Storm Isaac is poised to gain strength and make landfall as a hurricane as early as Tuesday, just ahead of the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
As of Monday, the storm had passed the Florida Keys and was barreling toward the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico. According to the National Hurricane Center, Isaac will gain speed over the warm Gulf waters and could hit land on Tuesday somewhere along a 300-foot stretch between New Orleans and the Florida panhandle.
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Though a Tuesday landfall would come just one day before the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, there won't be much similarity in the strength of the storms. Katrina made landfall as a Category 5 storm with winds upwards of 157 mph, while Isaac is likely to reach Category 1 or 2, bringing of about 90 mph.
Still, residents are evacuating across the Gulf Coast, including all 53,000 residents of St. Charles Parish near New Orleans.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal cancelled a high-profile speaking engagement at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., to return home and monitor the storm.
"Today is the day for folks in that area to get out of harm's way," Jindal warned Louisiana residents. "Pack up your stuff and get out of harm's way."
Over the weekend, President Barack Obama dispatched FEMA officials to be on hand in the event of disast
