BEIJING, Aug. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- Hurricane Isaac is lashing New Orleans, flooding roads, damaging homes and stranding dozens.

The storm came ashore around 12 Tuesday night. Storm surge driven by Isaac overtopped a levee early on Wednesday in a thinly-populated part of Plaquemines Parish, south of New Orleans.

More than half a million people are without power across the state’s southern parishes, including more than 300,000 in New Orleans and its suburbs. Though Isaac isn’t as strong as others that have impacted the region, evacuations were mandatory in about a half-dozen parishes. Coastal communities were largely abandoned following the orders.

(Source: CNTV.cn)