A powerful hurricane could slam into New Orleans on Wednesday — seven years to the day that Hurricane Katrina killed more than 700 people and caused billions of dollars in damage there.
“We are just on high alert. I know the anxiety level is high,” said New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu as Tropical Storm Isaac barreled toward the region last night, set to gain strength in the Gulf of Mexico before hitting land as a possible hurricane as early as tomorrow night.
“The storm is somewhat uncertain. Out of an abundance of caution, we will begin to take these precautions as quickly as we can,” Landrieu said.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency — as did the governors of Florida, Mississippi and Alabama — and asked for voluntary evacuations in 15 of 64 counties.
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The storm was expected to make landfall, possibly as a Category 2 or 3 hurricane, with winds up to 129 mph, tomorrow night or Wednesday morning
Katrina was a Category 5 — the most dangerous level — in the Gulf of Mexico, but weakened to 3 by the time it hit land.
A hurricane warning was issued from Morgan City, La., to Destin, along Florida’s Panhandle. New Orleans, about 70 miles west of Morgan City, is in the middle.
Florida appeared to escape heavy damage as the storm veered off its coast, much to the relief of national GOP leaders staging their party’s convention in Tampa this week.
But while forecasters said Isaac was extremely tricky to track and warned it could take one of several paths toward land, the three states potentially in its cross hairs were taking no chances.
“There’s really nothing that’s going to stop this storm from forming and from strengthening,’’ Jindal noted.
Landrieu insisted that New Orleans — which weathered the initial storm but not its catastrophic floodwaters in 2005 — is “much, much better prepared structurally than before.”
Still, he added, “If you are called upon, you should leave.”