We are streaming live video from Metairie, Louisiana in the window above, as Hurricane Isaac approaches.
Isaac was upgraded to hurricane status just before 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday. It is expected to make landfall overnight near New Orleans. The biggest concerns are flooding rains and damaging winds.
Seven years after that storm transformed the Big Easy, the mood was calm as the first wave of rain bands and wind gusts rolled ashore, and these battle-tested residents took the storm in stride, knowing they've been through a lot worse. Isaac looked to make landfall as early as Tuesday as a Category 1 hurricane with winds of at least 74 mph — much lower than the 135 mph winds Katrina packed in 2005.
Many residents along the Gulf Coast opted to ride it out in shelters or at home and officials, while sounding alarm about the dangers of the powerful storm, decided not to call for mass evacuations. Still, there was a threat of storm surge and the possibility of nearly two feet of rain as it slowly trudges inland.
"We don't expect a Katrina-like event, but remember there are things about a Category 1 storm that can kill you," Mayor Mitch Landrieu said, urging people to use common sense and to stay off any streets that may flood.
The remnants of Isaac could hit our area by Sunday and give us a rainy back half of the Labor Day Weekend.