Obama warns of flooding from Tropical Storm Isaac

U.S. President Barack Obama warned residents of the Gulf Coast on Tuesday that there could be significant flooding from Tropical Storm Isaac and encouraged people to evacuate if instructed by authorities to do so.
    
"As we prepare for Isaac to hit, I want to encourage all residents of the Gulf Coast to listen to your local officials and follow their directions, including if they tell you to evacuate," Obama said at the White House before departing on a two-day campaign trip.
   
"Now is not the time to tempt fate, now is not the time to dismiss official warnings. You need to take this seriously," he said.
   
Obama's statement was meant to show he is taking the storm seriously, too, despite his campaign travel.
   
Isaac is expected to make landfall in the New Orleans area seven years after it was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Obama has criticized the Bush administration's handling of the Katrina disaster.
    
The storm has almost developed into a hurricane, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said earlier on Tuesday. Significant storm surge and flood threat from rainfall are expected.
   
Isaac is expected to make landfall in the New Orleans area seven years after it was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Tropical Storm Isaac has nearly become a hurricane, with significant storm surge and flood threat from rainfall expected along the northern Gulf coast, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Tuesday.
   
The storm was located about 105 miles (170 km) southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, with maximum sustained winds of 70 miles per hour (110 kmph), the NHC said.
   
Isaac was moving toward the northwest at a speed near 7 mph (11 kmph).
   
Once ashore, the storm could wreak havoc on low-lying fuel refineries along the Gulf Coast that account for about 40 percent of U.S. refining capacity.


REUTERS