Katrina anniversary: Seven years later, Hurricane Isaac impacts Mississippi

As he looked out toward the Gulf of Mexico, pieces of a structure that had stood atop the city's fishing pier washed across the parking lot.

An American flag was flapping wildly in the wind and traffic lights leading into the parking lot flashed as a TV news crew tried to do a live shot.

McDermott said low-lying areas that typically flood were under water. The area has been under a mandatory evacuation. McDermott said many homes there are vacation getaways for New Orleans residents so he thought they were empty as Isaac neared.

In Biloxi, the eastern end of the city, a point that juts into Biloxi Bay where most casinos are located, was being threatened by rising water, authorities had said earlier. They cautioned that the high tide wasn't expected until mid-morning — a critical time as Isaac hung off the nearby coast of southeastern Louisiana.

By dawn, casinos remained mostly dry. Nonetheless, there was water in the bottom floor of Grand Casino's closed-off parking garage. And water lapped around the Palace Casino in East Biloxi.

Tornado warnings had been posted, meanwhile, because of thunderstorms in southern Mississippi. And the back streets of some communities, on higher ground, showed little evidence of Isaac's passage save for some downed tree branches.

Winds rose above 20 mph Tuesday afternoon and stayed there through midnight. A gust of 43 mph was recorded at Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport just after midnight, the worst yet recorded there.

The Mississippi Department of Transportation said beachside U.S. 90, a major thoroughfare, was flooding in several locations in Harrison County, though the agency's functioning traffic cameras showed the road to be passable.

Before Isaac had even reached the Gulf coast, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant and other officials were warning residents not to get complacent about Isaac. Authorities had warned of the threat of significant flooding even hundreds of miles inland in coming days.

"This is a slow-moving system and we expect heavy rain to occur throughout Mississippi," said Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate, speaking Tuesday with Bryant at a Mississippi Air National Guard base in Gulfport. "This is not just a storm for coastal Mississippi."

Isaac made landfall at 6:45 p.m. CDT Tuesday in Plaquemines Parish, La.

As Isaac pushed closer to shore Tuesday, bands of rain pelted the Mississippi coast. Harbors were mostly empty, other than disabled boats that couldn't be moved. In Pass Christian, a sail boat had washed aground near the beach and bobbled in the surf. Many houses were boarded up.

The Mississippi Gaming Commission on Tuesday ordered Harrison County's 10 casinos shut on Tuesday, following the Monday closure of Hancock County's two gambling halls. Many businesses were closed, and postal workers wrapped mailboxes in plastic.

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