Hurricane Isaac sidestepped New Orleans on Wednesday, sending the worst of its howling wind and heavy rain into a cluster of rural fishing villages that had few defenses against the slow-moving storm that could bring days of unending rain.

Hurricane Isaac brought up to 20 inches of rain and 100 mph winds to the New Orleans are, but missed a direct hit on the city as it moved slowly to the north. The hurricane passed just west of New Orleans, and was downgraded to a tropical storm Wednesday afternoon with winds decreasing to 60 mph Wednesday night. One person was killed.

Isaac began a slow, drenching move inland from the Gulf of Mexico, stranding some people in homes and cars as the storm spun into a newly fortified New Orleans exactly seven years after Katrina.

Tropical Storm Isaac, downgraded from a hurricane about 19 hours after making landfall, drove water over a levee in a lightly populated part of Plaquemines Parish.

Plaquemines Parish is the parish with the most combined land and water area in the U.S. state of Louisiana, just southeast of New Orleans. The parish’s population was 26,757 in 2000.

Tropical Storm Isaac is slowly creeping across Louisiana. The storm left more than 700,000 homes and businesses without power in Louisiana and Mississippi.

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