Stranded residents rescued by boat from Isaac flooding - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Hurricane Isaac has brought punishing wind, driving rain and flooding as it pounded New Orleans and the Gulf Coast for a full day.

Rescue teams moved in to Plaquemines Parish as the hurricane, so often compared to Katrina, took on one of its most devastating qualities.

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"I have more damage for this storm than I did for Katrina. And I rode out Katrina at my home," said Billy Nungesser, resident.

The rush of water came quickly and hundreds scrambled to get to higher ground.

One man who lives in a flooded area between New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico has been using his boat to rescue stranded neighbors. Joshua Brockhaus says he's "getting text messages from all over asking for help."

He says Hurricane Isaac, which is now a tropical storm, had a bigger impact than expected because it lingered over the area for so long, dumping heavy rain.

"We picked everything up we have a second floor. We thought we'd be okay as long as we had a two-story house. And we picked everything up and about two hours later the water just started gushing in and it filled up about 10 feet. And we sat upstairs near a window looking for rescue for about four or five hours," said Ramona Billott, who was rescued from flooding.

"I wasn't prepared to leave yet. I didn't want to leave my husband but the second boat came, me and my son left," she added, explaining that her husband was still at the house. "The water is not rising anymore. Everybody knows where he is. The boat is going to go back maybe when the water goes down. He's not going to leave until he can get our animals out."

Billott said the storm washed away her family's property.

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Officials are considering whether to punch a hole in a levee to relieve some of the water spilling over a wall in the rural area. A mandatory evacuation area for part of the west bank of the Mississippi River affects about 3,000 people.

"We lost power around ten o'clock, listened to the radio some. Drove around to spots that usually look at where the water levels are and didn't see water levels elevated. Then laid down for a little bit and a phone call from the Parish said get out we're breaching the levee, leave," said Fred Schwarz, who was rescued.

"We got out the back door with the boat. Tried to save my next door neighbor which wouldn't happen. The wind was so strong it was pushing the boat the opposite way," said James Oliveri, resident.

In New Orleans itself, the levee system has been holding. It was reinforced in the aftermath of the devastation from Hurricane Katrina, which struck seven years ago today.

"There is much more coming," Gov. Bobby Jindal warned Louisiana residents earlier Wednesday.

A nighttime curfew took effect Wednesday to prevent looting and to make it easier for utility crews to restore power. More than 600,000 households and businesses in southeastern Louisiana lost power because of the storm.

At a campaign rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, President Obama took a moment to let people in the Gulf Coast region know that the thoughts and prayers of Americans across the country are with them.

"We are going to make sure that we are doing every single thing that we need to do to ensure that the folks down there are taking care of and have the support and love of the rest of this country, because when things like this happen there are no Democrats or Republicans. There are just Americans and we stand by Americans in their hour of need," said the president.