Most Active Stories Around the Nation Wed August 29, 2012
Isaac's Size, Speed Help It Pack A Heavyweight Punch Originally
published on Fri October 26, 2012 11:28 am Isaac might not be in
the same league as Hurricane Katrina seven years ago, but the
latest storm to batter Louisiana's Gulf Coast is punching above
its weight class in more ways than one, scientists say. The 2005
Hurricane Katrina, which devastated Louisiana and parts of
Mississippi and Alabama, was a Category 3 storm (sustained winds
of 125 mph) moving at about 15 mph when it made landfall on the
Gulf Coast. By comparison, Isaac was a weak Category 1 storm as
measured on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with sustained winds of
74-95 mph. By Wednesday afternoon, Isaac had been downgraded to
a tropical storm, although it still was close to the Gulf Coast
and continued to dump torrential rain. While Isaac is
considerably less intense than Katrina, it is large and slow — a
dangerous combination — and it's moving west of the Mississippi
River, a track that i