Officials may breech levee as Isaac storms inland

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana officials said today they may have to intentionally breach a levee in a flooded area as Hurricane Isaac made a slow, drenching slog inland before weakening to a tropical storm and a dusk-to-dawn curfew was declared in New Orleans.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said officials may cut a hole in a levee on the east bank of Plaquemines Parish to relieve pressure on the structure. At a news conference in Baton Rouge, Jindal said there was no estimate on when that might occur.

He said as many as 40 people are reportedly in need of rescue in the area.

Plaquemines Parish has also ordered a mandatory evacuation for the west bank of the Mississippi River below Belle Chasse, worried about a storm surge. The order affects about 3,000 people in the area, including a nursing home with 112 residents.

Officials said the evacuation was ordered out of concern that more storm surge from Isaac would be pushed into the area and levees might be overtopped.