August 31st, 2012
07:39 AM ET
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Friday's live events

The storm formerly known as Hurricane Isaac continues to trek northward as the U.S. Gulf Coast starts to recover.  Watch CNN.com Live for continuing coverage of the storm.

Today's programming highlights...

Ongoing coverage - Isaac tracker and briefings

10:00 am ET - Romney and Ryan's RNC farewell - GOP presidential ticket Mitt Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan appear at an RNC "farewell victory rally" in Lakeland, Florida.  They will late participate in a "victory" rally in Richmond, Virginia, at 2:00 pm ET.

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Filed under: Elections • Hurricane Isaac • Hurricanes • On CNN.com today • Politics • Tropical weather • Weather
August 30th, 2012
10:21 PM ET
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Isaac works its way up Mississippi River

[Updated 4:15 a.m. Friday] Isaac, now a tropical depression is working its way up the Mississippi River Valley, bringing heavy rain and the threat of flash floods to the area. A tornado watch remains in effect for much of Mississippi. Parts of Arkansas and Mississippi are under flash flood watches and warnings, according to the National Weather Service.

[Updated 10:35 p.m. ET] And finally ...

[tweet https://twitter.com/artfAEMA/status/241326843901407232%5D

[Updated 10:21 p.m. ET] The folks who catch the shrimp we enjoy on our tables are a tough lot, a breed apart. Not a few of them rode out Isaac on their boats.

[Updated 10:09 p.m. ET] Electric utility Entergy says it will bring its Waterford 3 nuclear plant back online over the coming days. The plant, 25 miles from New Orleans, was shut down Tuesday as a precaution as Tropical Storm Isaac approached. About 41 percent of all homes in Entergy's Louisiana service area were without power as of late afternoon.

[Update 10:01 p.m. ET] Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport received its first post-Isaac incoming flight this evening, from Aspen, Colorado, Mayor Mitch Landrieu's office says.

[Updated 9:54 p.m. ET] The Salvation Army says it has provided more than 8,000 meals, 7,000 drinks, 6,000 snacks, and emotional and spiritual care to nearly 600 individuals along the Gulf Coast during the storm period.

[Updated 9:44 p.m. ET] New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees tweeted a message of support for the folks back home while the Saints prepared for a preseason game against the Tennessee Titans in Nashville:

[tweet https://twitter.com/drewbrees/status/241293012414652416%5D

[Updated 8:39 p.m.] Storm surge and high winds pushed several pleasure boats out of Mississippi's Pass Christian Harbor, leaving vessels high and dry on streets and in parking lots, CNN affiliate WLOX reports.

"I'd say in one word, it's a mess," Pass Christian Mayor Chipper McDermott told WLOX. "We had 215 boats in the harbor, and all but six or seven got out. As you can see, three are in the road, and that is a big problem."

Boat owners were under orders to remove their vessels from the harbor before the storm struck. McDermott wants to have a word with those who didn't.

"I'm personally taking it upon myself to talk with these boat owners," he said. "I'm personally doing it."

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Read CNN's full coverage of Hurricane Isaac
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Filed under: Flooding • Hurricane Isaac • Louisiana • Tropical weather • Weather
Almost 1 million without power from Isaac
August 30th, 2012
07:20 AM ET
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Almost 1 million without power from Isaac

Nearly a million customers were without electricity because of Isaac on Thursday morning. Power providers say at least 948,564 customers are without electricity across Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

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Waiting at 'the wall' for Isaac to hit
Soledad O'Brien walks along "the wall."
August 29th, 2012
07:51 AM ET
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Waiting at 'the wall' for Isaac to hit

From CNN's Soledad O'Brien in New Orleans

The concrete is so clean on the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal/Surge Barrier that it looks like they poured it yesterday. But the roiling clouds above it made it clear why its completion in May was critical. It's about to face its first test

They call it "the wall" - a two-mile long stretch of concrete that's designed to keep the waters of the Gulf from flooding into Lake Borgne then inundating New Orleans neighborhoods like the Lower Ninth Ward, a surge that destroyed homes and left a trail of dead during Hurricane Katrina.

This massive post-Katrina effort by the Army Corps of Engineers with three 150-foot-wide gates began in 2009. At 10:30am on Tuesday, the two doors were closed for the first time in anticipation of Hurricane Isaac.

"It will keep water from coming from the Gulf of Mexico through Lake Borgne. Last time the surge went into Lake Borgne and into the heart of the city, " said Col. Edward Fleming of the US Army Corps of Engineers. "This wall is built to 26 feet high and we expect to see surges of eight to 10, maybe 15, feet."

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Filed under: Hurricane Isaac • Hurricanes • Louisiana • New Orleans • Weather