Plane and train service between Atlanta and the Gulf coast region was disrupted Tuesday as Isaac was upgraded just after noon to a hurricane, but the storm's impact on metro Atlanta was diminishing as it continued to move away from this region.
"Hurricane Isaac moving slowly toward the southeast coast of Louisiana" Channel 2 Action News chief meteorologist Glenn Burns said Tuesday afternoon. Winds are 75 mph with higher gusts, and heavy rain was likely across Louisiana, with some areas expected to see 14 inches of precipitation over the next three days.
As for metro Atlanta, Burns said, "We have an outer rain band across north Georgia [Tuesday], and it will continue moving into the mountain communities through the afternoon."
Burns predicted breaks in the clouds over the Atlanta area with a few showers through early Tuesday evening, and mostly cloudy conditions overnight. "Tomorrow, lots more sunshine for us, but we will have a 40 percent chance of showers as Isaac continues to weaken," Burns said.
Highs in the lower 80s and lows in the lower 70s are predicted through Thursday, with temperatures warming and the chance of rain, diminishing, Friday and into the weekend.
Georgia Power reported a brief outage midday Tuesday affecting about 1,000 customers, but power was restored later in the afternoon. Mark Williams, a spokesman for the utility, said, "I think we're in good shape. I don't think we're expected to get any of the rough weather, just rain."
Those wishing to travel toward areas affected by the storm continued to face headaches, though.
Meanwhile, airlines were cancelling their flights into New Orleans. All airlines were to stop flying at the end of Monday's schedule. No flights were scheduled Tuesday or Wednesday, according to the website of Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport said. Armstrong typically handles about 10,000 passengers a day in August.
Late Monday, Delta Air Lines canceled about 30 Tuesday flights into and out of New Orleans, Gulfport, Miss., Mobile, Ala. and Pensacola, Fla.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Delta spokesman Morgan Durrant said in an email, "we are at 107 total flight cancellations (Delta and Delta Connection) across the Gulf Coast region due to Isaac. This includes several more inland, small airports like Hattiesburg, Miss. and LaFayette, La. to name just two.
"For tomorrow [Wednesday], we've canceled an additional 60. We're look to resume flying to Mobile and Pensacola tomorrow afternoon and New Orleans and Mobile by Thursday morning," Durrant said.
In a statement posted on its website Tuesday, Southwest said it had canceled all New Orleans flights for Tuesday and Wednesday. "Our ability to resume our scheduled service is contingent upon the conditions of the runways, taxiways, other airport services, and the city's infrastructure to/from the airport," the airline said.
Southwest said service was continuing, though weather-related disruptions were possible, to Jackson, Miss., and Panama City Beach and Tampa Bay, Fla.
Officials with Amtrak announced that the Crescent passenger train would be shut down between Atlanta and New Orleans on Tuesday and Wednesday. "This daily service from New York and Washington will terminate and originate in Atlanta, rather than New Orleans, with no service until further notice in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana," Amtrak said in an online notice.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said Isaac intensified into a Category 1 hurricane about 12:20 p.m. Tuesday. The current forecast track has the storm aimed at New Orleans, but hurricane warnings extended across 280 miles from Morgan City, La., to the Florida-Alabama state line.
Evacuations were ordered for some low-lying areas and across the region, people boarded up homes, stocked up on supplies and got ready for the storm. Schools, universities and businesses closed in many places. States of emergency were in effect in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
Early Tuesday afternoon, Isaac's center was southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, and it was moving northwest at 10 mph. Maximum sustained winds were 75 mph.
Isaac also kept the upward pressure on gas prices.
Atlantagasprices.com reported Tuesday afternoon that Atlanta's average price for a gallon of regular unleaded was $3.89, up 16 cents from a week ago and 43 cents from a month ago.
— The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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