CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
Isaac hovered over Louisiana for a third
day Thursday, shedding more than a foot of additional rain that forced
authorities to hurriedly evacuate areas ahead of the storm and rescue
hundreds of people who could not escape as the rapidly rising waters
swallowed entire neighborhoods.
At least one death has been attributed to the storm. Torrential rain is still falling in the southeast, dumping 20 inches of rain in some areas. Flood waters are still rising.
South of New Orleans, crews are intentionally breaking part of a levee to prevent it from collapsing.
The tropical storm is expected to move further inland and be downgraded again to a tropical depression later on Friday.
The storm left more than a foot of water in the Plaquemines Parish in New Orleans.
As many as 700,000 people are without power due to the storm. At one point during the storm, more than 800,000 homes and businesses were without power.
In Jefferson Parish, winds and rain took down more than ten power lines, and crews shut down streets in some areas.
Power will not be restored until Sunday at the earliest.
A church in North Texas opened its doors to victims of hurricane damage.
The Faith Baptist Church in Desoto is offering food, shelter, medical attention and counseling to evacuees. The church said it's a better option for people than staying in Louisiana.
Two other shelters have also been set up in East Texas, in Tyler and Texarkana.
President Obama stayed in touch with emergency management officials throughout the day Wednesday as he hit the campaign trail in Virginia.
He said residents affected by Isaac will get all the help they need from the federal government.
"We are going to make sure we are doing every single thing that we need to do to ensure the folks down there are taken care of and have the support and the love of the rest of this country," the president said, "because when things like this happen there are no Democrats or Republicans - there are just Americans."
The president has already declared some towns in Louisiana and Mississippi disaster areas because of the storm.
As if the hurricane wasn't enough, Isaac is now forming tornadoes in Mississippi. The tornadoes tore up some homes and blew down some power lines. No injures have been reported so far.
