Gulf Coast feels wrath of Hurricane Isaac - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Hurricane Isaac is pounding the Gulf Coast Wednesday, pushing water over a levee, flooding homes and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of people.

Water has pushed over the top of a levee in Plaquemines parish south of New Orleans. It's believed people are trapped in their homes, but conditions are still too dangerous to send in rescue crews.

The hurricane is testing New Orleans' new levee system exactly seven years to the day since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city. So far, the levees are holding.

Google Isaac crisis tracker - Follow the evacuation notices, warnings and keep track of the storm response.

Utility companies say more than 500,000 have lost power as the hurricane moves through southeast Louisiana, bringing wind, rain and flooding.

Most of the outages Wednesday are in areas around New Orleans as Isaac lashes the area with 80 mph winds.

The Category 1 hurricane has pushed water over a rural levee to flood some homes, knocked out power and immersed beach-front roads in Louisiana and Mississippi as it makes a drenching slog inland from the Gulf of Mexico.

Wind gusts of more than 60 mph and sheets of rain pelted New Orleans, where people braced themselves for the storm behind levees that were strengthened after the much stronger Hurricane Katrina hit seven years ago to the day.

In New Orleans, palm branches were ripped from trees along Canal Street, and a store sign was left dangling. The storm drove sheets of rain and gusting winds through the nearly deserted streets. A drive through the area overnight reveals downed trees, damaged buildings and some localized flooding.

There was a strong police presence in the French Quarter to keep track of outages and to prevent looting, which became a problem after Hurricane Katrina.

Tulane University in New Orleans has canceled classes for the rest of the week. Classes will resume the Tuesday after Labor Day.

Tuesday night, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said the city had "dodged a bullet" with Isaac, which had maximum sustained winds of 80 miles per hour. The category 1 storm was far less powerful than Katrina, which struck seven years ago, on the morning of Aug. 29, 2005.

Heavy rain from Isaac is causing flooding in some low lying areas along the Gulf Coast, including Pass Christian, Mississippi. The town is located on the coast and was hit by storm surge. Seventy percent of the communities live in low lying areas that are classified as flood zones.

Hurricane Isaac could keep its strength throughout the day as the storm's main area of circulation is over New Orleans.

See a slideshow of images from Hurricane Isaac