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T.S. Isaac Blitzes Louisiana With Flooding Rains

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – After pounding coastal Louisiana and southern Mississippi for hours with torrential rain and gusty wind, slow moving Isaac has lost some of its oomph and has been downgraded to a tropical storm.

At 11 p.m. Wednesday the center of the storm was located about 15 miles south of Baton Rouge, La. or 70 miles west of  of New Orleans, La.

The storm's maximum sustained winds had dropped to 60 mph with some higher gusts.  Gradual weakening will continue as Isaac continues pushing inland.

Isaac continues crawling northwest at 6 mph.

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING is in effect from Cameron, Louisiana to the Alabama-Florida border.

Isaac is forecast to continue moving toward the northwest through Wednesday night and take a turn to the north-northwest by Thursday night or early Friday. On the forecast track, the center of Isaac will move farther inland over Louisiana through Thursday, moving over southern Arkansas by early Friday.

The National Hurricane Center reports the combination of storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters.

The Florida Panhandle could and Apalachee Bay could see a storm surge at high tide of two to four feet. Alabama could see a storm surge of three to six feet, while coastal southeast Louisiana and Mississippi could see a storm surge of six to 12 feet.

Isaac is expected to produce seven to 14 inches of rainfall over southern Louisiana, southern Mississippi and southwest Alabama. Some areas could see as much as 20 inches of rain.

CBSMiami Tropics Update | Tropics Tracker | Hurricane News

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