CHAUVIN, La. (AP) — Isaac is continuing its approach toward the Louisiana coast, but now as a hurricane.
Forecasters say the storm reached hurricane status today, with top winds of 75 miles an hour. It could grow stronger by the time it reaches the swampy coast of southeast Louisiana tonight or early tomorrow.
As the storm approached, President Barack Obama warned residents along the Gulf Coast to heed the warnings of local authorities. He said, "Now is not the time to tempt fate."
People are filling a municipal auditorium that's been turned into a shelter in the city of Houma (HOH'-muh), southwest of New Orleans. One man who's there with his wife and their teenage sons says he rode out hurricanes when he was younger, but that was before he saw the damage from hurricanes Andrew, Katrina and Rita.
The Coast Guard has been searching the Gulf of Mexico for a man who failed to return home from a water-scooter trip late yesterday as the storm approached the coast.
Forecasters say Isaac is a large storm whose effects could reach out 200 miles from its center.