TROPICAL STORM ISAAC ENROUTE TO A HISTORIC LANDFALL IN

LOUSIANA

August 21 - 31, 2012

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University

of North Carolina, USA

AUGUST 21-?, 2012

WIND PENETRATING BUILDING ENVELOPE

SEVERE WINDSTORMS

SEVERE WINDSTORMS

UPLIFT OF ROOF SYSTEM

FLYING DEBRIS

STORM SURGE

IRREGULARITIES IN ELEVATION AND PLAN

SITING PROBLEMS

FLOODING AND LANDSLIDES

CAUSES OF DAMAGE

CAUSES OF DAMAGE

“DISASTER LABORATORIES”

“DISASTER LABORATORIES”

TROPICAL STORM ISAAC: AUGUST 21, 2012

TROPICAL STORM ISAAC: AUGUST 23

The storm brought rain and gusty winds to Haiti, Puerto Rico, the eastern Caribbean Islands, and Cuba on Thursday (Aug. 23), leading to 22 deaths.

ISAAC DUMPS RAIN ON PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI: AUG. 23

ISAAC’S FORECAST: AUGUST 23, 2012

ISAAC’S FORECAST: AUGUST 23, 2012

ISAAC, MISSED TAMPA BAY, FL, BUT ITS RAIN AND WIND CAUSED A 1-DAY DELAY OF

THE 5-DAY REPUBLICAN CONVENTION IN TAMPA,

FLORIDA

EVACUEES LEAVING NEW ORLEANS ON INTERSTATE 10

EVACUEES IN A LOUISIANA SAFE HAVEN

ISAAC WAS A RAINMAKER FOR THE GULF COAST

BAY ST LOUIS, MISS: ISAAC-GENERATED WAVES:

GULFPORT, MISS: ISAAC-GENERATED WAVES:

MOBILE BAY, AL: ISAAC-GENERATED WAVES:

MOBILE BAY, AL: SAND BAGS TO PREVENT FLOODS

GRAND ISLE

• Evacuation was ordered for Grand Isle’s 1,300 residents, but 40 refused.

• Hurricane Isaac’s 166 kph (100 mph) winds caused widespread damage to houses on 12-15 foot stilts.

• Although the island was covered by as much as 150 cm (5 feet) of water, it was not a problem for the houses on stilts.

LANDFALL

Isaac, a massive and slow-moving CAT 1 hurricane and rainmaker, reached the

Louisiana coastline on Tuesday (August 28th) one day short of the seventh

anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005

ISAAC AT LANDFALL: LATE TUESDAY

SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS

• New Orleans, south Mississippi, and southeast Louisiana took a beating" from Isaac’s storm surge, heavy rain, and wind field.

• 725,000 people across five states were without power.

• 520,00 lost power in Louisiana, possibly for a week

At landfall, Isaac had winds of 133 kph (80 mph) and rain

bands affecting a circular area 330 km (200 miles) wide.

PLAQUEMINES PARISH: NEW ORLEANS

• Plaquemines Parish -- a rural area south of New Orleans that experienced flooding in 2005 from Hurricane Katrina -- experienced a 4 m (12-feet) surge from Isaac, causing people to go to their roofs to escape the rising water.

PLAQUEMINES PARISH: NEW ORLEANS

• A 9 feet levee in Plaquemines Parish that was not strengthened after Katrina was overtopped, adding to the urgency for search and rescue.

A RESCUE

ISAAC WAS, THANKFULLY,NOT AS DEVASTATING FOR NEW

ORLEANS AS HURRICANE KATRINA WAS IN 2005

NEW ORLEANS’ IMPROVED LEVEES PERFORMED WELL

NEW ORLEANS IN 2005: LEVEE FAILURE LEFT 1,000,000 HOMELESS

NEW ORLEANS IN 2012

• When Isaac arrived, New Orleans was a “ghost town” as the result of evacuations, and houses and businesses being boarded up.

• The fate of New Orleans depended upon the new and improved levees built since 2005.

NEW ORLEANS: A GHOST TOWN

NEW ORLEANS: FLOODED

NEW ORLEANS: POLICE DEPLOYED, BUT NO LOOTING

NEW ORLEANS: BUSINESSES BOARDED UP

NEW ORLEANS

NEW ORLEANS: WIND DAMAGE

NEW ORLEANS: WIND DAMAGE

NEW ORLEANS: FLOODING

NEW ORLEANS: FLOODING

ISAAC’S FORECAST AFTER LANDFALL: AUGUST 29, 2012

MORE RAIN AND FLOODING EXPECTED

An additional 25 cm (10 in) of rain ,

and flooding, is expected as Isaac moves inland and

dies.