(CBS/AP) MIAMI – The center of Tropical Storm Isaac’s projected path took it directly toward New Orleans for a projected landfall as early as Tuesday night, nearly seven years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.
At 8 p.m. Monday, the National Hurricane Center reported that Isaac’s top sustained winds had remained at 70 mph for several hours, up from about 65 mph the evening before. A tropical system becomes a Category 1 hurricane once winds reach 74 mph. CBS News consultant David Bernard reports the storm is predicted to run right over New Orleans, and its maximum sustained winds could be up to 100 mph by the time it makes landfall late Tuesday or early Wednesday.
Its center was about 230 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, and it was moving northwest at 10 mph.
A hurricane warning is in effect from Morgan City, La., to the Alabama-Florida line — an area covering 5 million people. East of the state line to Destin, Fla., hurricane forecasters have now posted a tropical storm warning.
Source: CBS News.
