Isaac downgraded to tropical storm, but impacts continue

Isaac has been downgraded to a tropical storm after losing some strength as its center is now due west of New Orleans. Isaac continues to inflict tropical storm-force winds along the coast from Louisiana to Alabama. Shell Beach, Louisiana has had sustained tropical storm-force winds since 2pm CDT on Tuesday and as of writing this, they continue to see sustained winds around 39 mph. Radar shows heavy rain is falling from central Louisiana east to Mobile, Alabama. The heaviest rain continues to fall on the east side of the storm. A particularly strong band of thunderstorms is training over Gulfport and Biloxi, Mississippi, extending around the storm to McComb, Mississippi, as well. Satellite imagery shows Isaac still has well-developed outflow at higher levels, and the (albeit messy) structure of the cyclone's core seems to be collapsing this afternoon, which illustrates the weakening trend we've seen in observations and from the Hurricane center.

Rainfall totals through 4pm CDT:
• Gretna, LA: 16.84"
• New Orleans Lakefront: 9.26"
• Gulfport, MS: 7.3"
• Mobile, AL: 6.86"

A personal weather station on Freret St. in New Orleans has recorded 20+ inches of rain since yesterday, as well.


Figure 1. Isaac as seen from the high-resolution Terra satellite Wednesday at 1:15pm EDT.

Water levels have decreased since this morning's high tide, though impacts will likely continue along the Mississippi River and coastal Mississippi and Alabama. The town of Braithwaite, Lousiana was inundated with water today as storm surge forced the river to spill over its walls. Rescue crews gathered people in boats and rafts, and in some cases, were forced to use axes on rooftops to get the people and pets out of their homes.

Below are some pictures collected from Twitter of Isaac's impacts today.


Downtown Biloxi, Mississippi inundated with water from Isaac's storm surge. (via @extremestorms)


Water reaches 10 feet high in Braithwaite, Lousiana. (via @jebetz)


Floodwall in Braithwaite holding back the river. (via @jebetz)

More pictures below to come from the AP and WunderPhotographers.

Angela