Hurricane Isaac 2012-Total Devastation- Pictures

7/31/2019 Hurricane Isaac 2012-Total Devastation- Pictures

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What the waters left behind: Nightmarish scenes of dead rats andtombs washed away in Louisiana as Isaac clean up begins

Man and woman found in their kitchen in Braithwaite, Louisiana after becoming trapped by floods

Man in Picayne, Mississippi killed after tree fell on his truck while man died after falling from tree in Vermilon,LouisianaStorm downgraded to tropical depression as winds dropped to 35 mph903,000 homes and businesses throughout Louisiana have no powerAs much as 18 inches of rain in some areas across Mississippi and LouisianaRelief in New Orleans on seventh anniversary of Katrina as destruction is confined to felled trees and damagedroofsIsaac continues to lumber north and is expected to move into Arkansas and Missouri on Friday

By Reuters Reporter, Daily Mail Reporter and Associated Press

PUBLISHED: 07:38 EST, 31 August 2012 | UPDATED: 18:27 EST, 31 August 2012

With the remnants of Hurricane Isaac retreating from the Gulf Coast north, leaving massive devastation in their wake, piles of dead nutria - large

semiacquatic rodents - have been spotted littering the shore in Waveland, Mississippi, on Friday.

But perhaps one of the most striking images to have come out of the natural disaster was the sight of tombstones and caskets from an above-groundcemetery floating among the debris.

Dozens of damaged headstone were spotted sitting washed atop a levee by flood waters after a breach in Braithwaite, Louisiana. The breach occurredas Isaac made landfall Tuesday night.

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Macabre sight: Tombs sit washed atop a levee by flood waters after a levee breach in Braithwaite, Louisiana August 31, 2012

cane Isaac 2012: Couple found dead in home | Mail Online http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2196299/Hurricane-Isa

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Signs of devastation: The breach of the Braithwaite levee that caused the headstones to become uprooted took place on Tuesday after Isaac made landfall

Terrible sight: Nutria rodents pile up along the shore after Hurricane Isaac went through Waveland, Mississippi, August 31, 2012


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A couple have been found dead in their kitchen after flood waters dumped by Isaac swamped their Louisiana home and blocked their escape, bringingthe U.S. death toll from the lumbering storm to four.

The unidentified man and woman were found inside their house in Braithwaite - one of the towns hardest hit after flood waters topped a nearby levee -following a report to authorities that they had apparently not escaped as the town was ravaged by the storm.

Their deaths come after Greg Parker, 52, was killed by a tree falling on his truck in Picayune, Mississippi on Wednesday, while on Tuesday, CarlosMedellin-Guillen, 36, died after falling 18ft from a tree in Vermilon Parish, Louisiana in an attempt to help two friends move a vehicle trapped beneath it.

As Isaac whirls north - expecting to hit Missouri and Arkansas later today - it continues to cause headaches, bringing heavy rainfall and the threat offlash flooding to the lower Mississippi Valley as Gulf Coast residents get ready to start their cleanup efforts.

In some areas, Isaac, which has been downgraded to a tropical depression after winds dropped to 35 mph, dumped as much as 16 inches of rain.

Around 500 people had to be rescued by boat or high-water vehicles.

Devastation: A resident boats through flood waters from Hurricane Isaac's storm surge on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain in Slidell, Louisiana. The storm, now downgraded to atropical depression, has claimed at least four lives in the state


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Damage: A woman wades through flood waters in Mandeville, Louisiana. One town noted nearly 19 inches of rain in a 24 hour period

Devastation: Flooding from an overtopped levee inundated the community of Braithwaite, Louisiana, where two people were found dead in their kitchen

New Orleans' Audubon Park recorded 18.7 inches of rain in a 24-hour period during Isaac. That exceeded all records dating back to 1871, said Jeff

Masters of Weather Underground. Many other locations in Louisiana and Mississippi logged more than 10 inches of rain.

It can still trigger tornadoes in Mississippi and Louisiana, the National Hurricane Center said - among the final acts of a storm that punched above itsweight in terms of impact and often confounded forecasters.

The storm caused anywhere from $700 million to $2 billion in insured onshore losses, disaster modeler AIR Worldwide said. That would still leaveIsaac, which came onshore as a Category 1 hurricane, well outside the 10 most cost ly U.S. hurricanes.

Through it all New Orleans sustained mostly cosmetic damage such as downed trees and street lights. A massive police and National Guard presence- and a dusk-to-dawn curfew, now lifted - also helped keep things calm even as much of the city lost power.

The Port of New Orleans and the city's airport were ready to reopen on Friday, authorities said.

Surrounding areas, though, without the new protective federal flood barriers, did not fare as well from the relentless rain and huge storm surgesbrought forth by Isaac.


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Safe: Jewel Rico, center, and her dog, Chico, are taken by boat as they evacuate their home in Reserve, Louisiana


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Drenched: Nick George stands in the Tangipahoa River after Hurricane Isaac passed through Kentwood, Louisiana. Officials had ordered a widespread evacuation of the area after a

dam threatened to burst


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Stranded: Cows are stuck in floodwaters in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana where a levee was topped by floodwater earlier this week


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No way out: The exits off I-10 in Slidell, Louisiana are flooded in the aftermath of Isaac

Some of the worst flooding was in Plaquemines Parish, southwest of New Orleans, where flood waters overtopped at least one levee and left manyhomes under about 12 feet of water.

Slidell, a town of about 27,000 people northeast of New Orleans, took the brunt of a storm surge from Lake Pontchartrain, which left some

neighborhoods under about a foot of water.'You'd have never made me believe a Category 1 would dump this much water,' said Sam Caruso, 71, a former mayor of Slidell who toured the town inhis pickup truck on Thursday.

The growing waters sparked fear on Thursday when officials ordered the immediate evacuation of 60,000 people in the area of Kentwood, along theLouisiana-Mississippi border as a swollen river threatened to break a dam.

After giving people just three hours to evacuate, officials swooped in to begin a controlled release of the water at Lake Tangipahoa in Percy QuinnState Park in Mississippi. A break in the dam could have raised the level of the already swollen River from around 11 feet to 17 feet in Kentwood.

The warning came after Isaac smashed into the Gulf Coast with winds of up to 80 mph on Tuesday night, rattling towns, swamping thousands ofhomes and businesses, leaving 930,000 people without power in Louisiana - and terrifying residents on the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.


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Clean-up effort: Members of the Louisiana National Guard clean up fallen tree limbs on Canal Street in New Orleans, Louisiana


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Outages: Nearly a million people are without power. Here, a local resident watches as electrical workers repair power lines damaged by Isaac in Arcola, Louisiana


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Devastation: Property remains partially submerged in flood waters in Manchac, Louisiana as the storm continues to lumber north

But as the storm continue inched further north at no more than a walking pace, it continued to lose its strength.

Amid the chaos and destruction, there were great feats of kindness and bravery. A father-son duo saved dozens of lives in their small Louisiana townafter plucking neighbours and their pets from flooded homes ravaged by the storm.

Jesse Shaffer, 25, and his 53-year-old father, also named Jesse, scooped more than 120 people to safety using their fishing boat on the flooded streetsof Braithwaite, where water topped a levee on Wednesday after Isaac lumbered towards the coastal town.

Braithwaite was one of the hardest hit areas after the Plaquemines Parish levee - which was not reinforced during the multi-billion dollar levee upgradesystem following Katrina - failed to keep out the storm surge.

From 5 a.m. on Wednesday, the Shaffers went from house-to-house in fishing boats, searching for anyone left stranded as floodwaters swept throughthe town. ABC News reported that the father and son saved up to 120 people, including some babies. They also rescued several pets.

They told the network that their most memorable rescue was pulling a family of f ive - including three small children from the roof of a mobile homeminutes before it was overtaken by water.


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Helping hands: Flooding in Lafitte, Louisiana, near New Orleans, forces residents to travel by boat


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Submerged: Water pours through a flooded home after Isaac passed through Plaquemines Parish

'They were all on there, screaming their lungs out,' the elder Shaffer said, fighting back tears. 'We rescued a lot of people, saw a lot of things you neverthought you'd see.'

In another example of their determination the men rescued 10 people, including a baby and an elderly man, from a local auditorium. They had tosmash through the attic ventilation system to reach the victims, they told ABC.

'We had to scramble and try to f ind a boat 'cause none of the sheriff's department or anybody could come to this end of the parish,' the elder Shaffersaid.

The men are victims of the storm, too. On Wednesday, water inside their home had risen to 12 feet and they had to move their belongings to the attic -which was then flooded. The water was rising six inches every four minutes, the older Shaffer said.

Parish President Billy Nungesser said U.S. Army National Guard troops and local sheriff's office officials were going house to house through the areaon Thursday to ensure that there were no deaths or injuries.

Officials rushed to evacuate more than 100 nursing home residents from Plaquemines Parish, an area with a reputation for residents hunkering downto weather storms. Even the sick and elderly are hardened storm veterans.

'I don't think we had to evacuate to begin with,' said Romaine Dahl, 59, as he sat in a wheelchair. 'The weather was a hell of a lot worse last night than

it is now. And I got an idea that after all this is said and done they're going to say everything is over with, go on back home.'


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Hunt: In Slidell, Louisiana, police officer Jeff Theriot rides on an SWAT truck as he searches for flood victims


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Swept away: A submerged truck sits along Highway 23 after Hurricane Isaac at Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana


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Fears: An owner and her dog are evacuated from rising waters by SWAT teams in Slidell on Thursday amid rising water levels


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Saved: In Waveland, Mississippi on Thursday, residents wade through storm waters left from Isaac's unceasing rainstorms to seek shelter

The storm continues to move north, inflicting heavy f looding on New Orleans - but residents agreed the storm, which had been a category 1 hurr icanewhen it hit land, did not pack a fraction of the punch of Katrina, which landed as a category 3 and intensified to a devastating category 5.

City officials had announced a dusk-to-dawn curfew on Wednesday to help prevent any return of the looting that occurred in New Orleans in the daysafter Katrina. New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu warned that the punishment for a looting conviction is harsh - a mandatory three years' hard labor.

About a dozen looting-related arrests were reported in the city by Thursday morning but the streets were unusually quiet, littered with downedbranches, trees and pieces of roofing material. The city reported about 10 inches of rain in some places.

But on Thursday morning, the sun shone on the city as business owners began taking down boards protecting their windows, yet thousands in the areawere still without power.

Mark Wallace, 52, had come out to check on his store, Fancy Boutique.

'This one just took forever,' Wallace said of the slow-moving storm which first brought rain to New Orleans on Tuesday. 'Usually they blow through andare done with.'

Wayne Overton, 50, a longshoreman, had come out to inspect a large, fallen tree in front of his home that had knocked down power lines.


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Relief: The rain has passed through New Orleans, leaving debris and fallen trees - but none of the chaos inflicted by Katrina

'This one lasted a while. It was scary,' Overton said, noting that the storm had damaged the roof of his home. 'There's going to be a lot of c lean up todo around here.'

West of New Orleans in St. John the Baptist Parish, flooding from Isaac forced 1,500 people to evacuate. Rising water closed off all mainthoroughfares into the parish, and in many areas, water lapped up against houses and left cars stranded.

By Thursday, Isaac's maximum sustained winds had dropped to 45 mph and the National Hurricane Center said it was expected to become a tropicaldepression by Thursday night, meaning its top sustained winds would drop below 39 mph.

The storm's center was on track to cross Arkansas on Friday and southern Missouri on Friday night, spreading rain as it goes.

As the focus on Isaac shifted from the coast, many in its projected path further north have been praying that it will bring rain desperately needed toease a drought in the central states, where summer crops are drying up and many r ivers and dams are critically low.

Staff Sergeant Denis Ricou, a Louisiana National Guard spokesman, said about 5,800 troops had been deployed in the state due to Isaac and thenumber could rise to over 8,000 in the coming days.

The Louisiana National Guard wrapped up rescue operations in Plaquemines Parish, saying they felt confident they had gotten everyone out and therewere no serious injuries but would stay in the area over the coming days to help, National Guard spokesman Capt. Lance Cagnolatti said.


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Visiting: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney greets police officers who accompanied his motorcade Friday in New Orleans days after Hurricane Isaac pounded Louisiana


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Little house on the river: A family looks on from their porch as the motorcade of Mitt Romney passes through a damaged neighborhood in Lafitte, Louisiana

Flashback: The Industrial Canal is pictured Friday, after Isaac hit earlier in the week in New Orleans. Floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina broke through the flood wall, right, seven yearsago, covering the Lower 9th Ward neighborhood

HURRICANE KATRINA: CLEANING UP THE DEVASTATION

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina lashed New Orleans, wiping out hundreds of thousands of homes, submerging 80 per cent of the city in floodwater and leading to the deaths of 1,836 people.

The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) was lambasted for its slow response and the chaos following the disaster.

Even though workers were in the region, many could not give direct assistance and could only report on the situation. They were overwhelmed by the

sheer number of victims and their communication and transportation struggled with the severe flooding. Within three days, National Guard and activeduty troops were sent to the area. More than one million people left the region due to the destruction and the devastated economy, making it the largestdisplacement in U.S. history.

The government sought $105billion for reconstruction and repairs for the region. A week after the hurricane, power began surging back, service reliefships began docking and water and sewage was gradually restored.

While some were slow to arrive, relief agencies eventually swarmed New Orleans and remained for months following the disaster. Two months afterthe hurricane, charities like the Red Cross were a mainstay - setting up relief centers around the city that provided hot meals, food, bottled water andother supplies like diapers. Volunteers, from groups such as Habitat for Humanity, helped repair homes.

For years following the disaster, debris was removed and homes were rebuilt, but the population still remains around two thirds of what it was beforethe hurricane struck.

The slow-moving storm prevented Louisiana utilities from sending teams out to assess storm damage. New Orleans-based Entergy said 17 substationsand 32 transmission lines were damaged by the storm.

Flooding slowed some power restoration work along the Mississippi coast, and gusty winds resulted in increased outages.

Late Wednesday, President Obama signed declarations terming the impact of the storm on Louisiana and Mississippi major disasters and orderingfederal aid to help with their recovery.

Because Isaac's coiled bands of rain and wind were moving at only 5 mph - about the pace of a brisk walk - the threat of storm surges and f loodingwas expected to last into a second night as the immense comma-shaped system crawled across Louisiana.

'We didn't think it was going to be l ike that,' Brockhaus said. 'The storm stayed over the top of us. For Katrina, we got 8 inches of water. Now we have13 feet.'

'I think a lot of people were caught with their pants down,' said Jerry Larpenter, sheriff in nearby Terrebonne Parish.

'This storm was never predicted right since it entered the Gulf. It was supposed to go to Florida, Panama City, Biloxi, New Orleans. We hope it loses itspunch once it comes in all the way.'

In New Orleans, the storm canceled remembrance ceremonies for those killed by Katrina. Since that catastrophe, the city's levee system has been


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bolstered by $14 billion in federal repairs and improvements. The bigger, stronger levees were tested for the first time by Hurricane Gustav in 2008.

Army Corps of Engineers spokeswoman Rachel Rodi said the flood-control measures were working 'as intended' during Isaac.

'We don't see any issues with the hurricane system at this point,' she said.

Isaac came ashore late Tuesday as a Category 1 hurricane, with 80 mph winds near the mouth of the Mississippi River. It drove a wall of water nearly11 feet high inland.

The storm stalled for several hours before resuming a slow trek inland, and forecasters said that was in keeping with its erratic history. The slow motionover land means Isaac could be a major soaker, dumping up to 20 inches of rain in some areas. But every system is different.

'It's totally up to the storm,' said Ken Graham, chief meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Slidell, Louisiana.

Slashing rain and wind gusts up to 100 mph buffeted New Orleans skyscrapers.

In the French Quarter near Bourbon Street, Jimmy Maiuri was shooting video from outside his second-floor apartment. Maiuri, who fled from Katrina atthe last minute, stayed behind this time with no regrets. He was amazed at the storm's timing.

'It's definitely not one to take lightly, but it's not Katrina,' he said. 'No one is going to forget Aug. 29, forever. Not here at least.'

As hard wind and heavy rain pelted Melba Leggett-Barnes' home in the Lower 9th Ward, an area leveled during Katrina, she felt more secure than shedid seven years ago.

'I have a hurricane house this time,' said Barnes, who has been living in her newly rebuilt home since 2008. She and her husband, Baxter Barnes, wereamong the first to get a home through Brad Pitt's Make It Right program.


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Picking up the pieces: Left, woman carries food and ice from an aid distribution center for victims of Hurricane Isaacin New Orleans, and right, an aerial photo shows boats washed up

on a road in Yscloskey


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By land or by sea: A man rows a pirogue in floodwaters past Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's motorcade in the aftermath of Isaac on Friday

Only rooftops: An areal shot taken Friday shows home flooded by Isaac in Braithwaite, Louisiana


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Destroyed: A house was entirely ravaged by Isaac in Yscloskey, Louisiana, pictured on Friday, August 31

Her yellow house with a large porch and iron trellis was taking a beating but holding strong. 'I don't have power, but I'm all right,' said Barnes, acafeteria worker for the New Orleans school system.

In Mississippi, some sections of the main highway that runs along the Gulf, U.S. 90, were closed by flooding.

In Pass Christian, a Mississippi coastal community wiped out by hurricanes Camille and Katrina, Mayor Chipper McDermott was optimistic that Isaacwould not deal a heavy blow. 'It's not too bad, but the whole coast is going to be a mess,' he said.

Isaac has already left a trail of suffering across the Caribbean.

The tropical storm bore down on Haiti's southern peninsula and on Cuba on Saturday, leading to 24 deaths and dumping torrential rain on a nation stilltrying to recover from the horrific 2010 earthquake.


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Patterns on the water: A car is inundated by floodwaters in the aftermath of Isaac in Verret, Louisiana, leaking out oil and gasoline into the murky waters


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Flooded: A woman gets out of her pirogue in floodwaters as Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's motorcade passes in the aftermath of Isaac in Lafitte

On the way home: Robert Darby, pictured left and right, walks through flood waters to get to his home with his dog, Blackjack, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012, in LaPlace

Isaac's rain and winds lashed Haiti's southern coast on Saturday, flooding parts of the capital Port-au-Prince and ripping through flimsy resettlementcamps that house more than 350,000 survivors of the earthquake.

The government and aid groups tried to evacuate thousands of tent camp dwellers on Friday but many Haitians chose to remain in their flimsy,makeshift homes, apparently fearing they would be robbed, said Bradley Mellicker, head of disaster management for the International Organization forMigration.


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Comments (40)

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Don't live there, or if you do don't expect other people to pay for the damage through increased insurance rates for everyone.

- IAM, Toronto, Canada, 01/9/2012 03:09

Click to rate Rating 6

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Don't live there, or if you do don't expect other people to pay for the damage through increased insurance rates for everyone.

- IAM, Toronto, Canada, 01/9/2012 03:09



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These pictures are heartbreaking. Prayers for these poor storm victims and all of the animals. So sad!

- JC, Chicago, USA, 01/9/2012 03:08


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No sign of "president" obama...guess he don't care about white people....

- sorryfornoticing, Los Angeles, 01/9/2012 02:27


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looks like he rats are fermenting nicely there, starting to swell up with the internal gasses.

- bob, China, 01/9/2012 02:23


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I wonder how many of those Nutria rodents it takes to make a pie. They look nice and meaty. Just a thought. My thoughts go out to you all down there. Let's hope the government isa bit more on their toes this time for the clean up.

- Resident, Somewhere in America, 01/9/2012 02:17


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The rats are nutria....and can get up to 20 lbs. Not a pleasant sight anyplace. But a bunch of dead ones are definitely gross.

- melissa, southern u.s., 01/9/2012 02:14


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Bush's fault, just like Katrina, remember? Except who blew up the levies this time? Obama? Nah. Had to be Bush again.

- David, Boerne, TX, 01/9/2012 02:12


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Bush's fault, just like Katrina, remember? Except who blew up the levies this time? Obama? Nah. Had to be Bush again.

- David, Boerne, TX, 01/9/2012 02:11


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It is good to see a Republican cares about what is happening to fellow American's. Mean while BO shows how little he actually cares.

- Stephanie, Florida, USA, 01/9/2012 02:09


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Hurricane Isaac 2012-Total Devastation- Pictures

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