Isaac: Evacuations ordered on Louisiana-Mississippi border
Joshua Barbot (back) rescues family members (L to R) Christie, Ethan and Larry Trumbaturi from their flooded home in his boat on August 30, 2012 in Slidell, Louisiana. The Isaac weather system has now been downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm but is still producing heavy rains and flooding as it moves north.
Residents living along the Mississippi-Louisiana border were ordered to evacuate on Thursday as Tropical Storm Isaac moved north, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Thousands were evacuated as officials considered forcing a breach of a local dam in order to divert floodwaters away from homes, according to the LA Times. Areas north and south of New Orleans were also evacuated, though the city had been largely protected by fortified defenses, according to the AP.
NBC reported that as many as 50,000 were told to evacuate on Thursday morning. A local official told NBC that the dam had been damaged, and residents were being evacuated out of caution.
Reuters reported that over one million residents in Louisiana and Mississippi had no power on Thursday morning, according to the US Department of Energy. The first death caused by the storm in the Gulf Coast area was also confirmed on Thursday, according to CNN.
But Isaac was a fatal storm before it reached the United States, claiming at least 24 lives in Haiti, according to the Miami Herald. UN peacekeepers were observing the damage there earlier this week, and humanitarian workers expressed concerns about possible outbreaks of cholera and food insecurity driving the death toll higher, the Herald reported.