Isaac to Make Landfall: 5th Circuit Closed Until Thursday

By Robyn Hagan Cain on August 27, 2012 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Around this time seven years ago, we were sitting in Louisiana and hoping that Hurricane Katrina would pass our beloved Bayou State without wreaking havoc. Once again, we're spending the final days of August playing a wait and see game with a hurricane heading straight for the Gulf Coast.

Monday afternoon, Isaac's wind speed increased to 70 mph, just 4 mph short of a hurricane, NBCNews.com reports. The National Hurricane Center is predicting that Isaac will reach Category 2 status with 100 mph winds late Tuesday night or early Wednesday.

If you have business with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday or Wednesday, you should take care of it electronically. The court has announced that it will be closed until Thursday at 9:00 a.m. CST. Cases on the oral argument calendar for New Orleans for September 4-7 should be heard as scheduled.

If you're on the Louisiana Gulf Coast, you need to decide whether you're going to leave town. If you're leaving, Governor Bobby Jindal's office recommends that you leave before Tuesday. If you're staying, you should stock up on supplies immediately and plan to stay inside through the storm.

In Louisiana, the following parishes and areas have declared a mandatory evacuation:

  • Grand Isle and Lafitte in Jefferson Parish
  • Low lying areas in Jefferson Parish
  • South of the floodgates in Lafourche Parish
  • The East Bank in Plaquemines Parish
  • St. Charles Parish
  • Lowing lying areas of St. John the Baptist Parish

The Mississippi Gulf Coast is also expected to be impacted in the storm. The Hancock County Emergency Management Agency has issued mandatory evacuation orders for all low lying areas, residents living on rivers, river inlets, bayous, creeks and in travel trailers, cottages, modular homes or mobile homes, homes under construction and/or partially constructed homes for Tropical Storm Isaac.

If you don't have a generator, be sure to recharge your electronic devices (like your mobile phone and your laptop) while you still have power. Tropical Storm Isaac may not be the worst storm to hit the Gulf Coast, but you're probably going to lose power. Whether you choose to stay or go, if you pack a flashlight and hard copies of your files, you can keep reviewing documents (and billing) through the storm.

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