1 of 10. U.S. President Barack Obama (front L) is joined by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) as they tour Hurricane Isaac damage in the Ridgewood neighborhood of LaPlace, Saint John the Baptist Parish in Louisiana, September 3, 2012. 
 
 LAPLACE, Louisiana (Reuters) - President Barack Obama toured hurricane-stricken Louisiana on Monday and promised federal recovery help as he sought to show his administration was on top of the disaster response on the eve of his Democrats' national convention in North Carolina. 
 
 Obama was preceded by his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, who diverted from the campaign trail to Louisiana on Friday to inspect the fallout from Hurricane Isaac a day after accepting his party's nomination for the November 6 election. 
 
 Flying into New Orleans on a hot, sunny day, Obama traveled by motorcade to nearby St. John the Baptist Parish, one of the hardest-hit communities, where he met federal, state and local officials and then surveyed the area. 
 
 He saw evidence of the storm's fury - twisted road signs, toppled trees, blown-down fences, debris piled high and pools of water beside the road. Stepping out of his limousine, he paused to comfort a few residents and hear their stories. 
 
 "There has been enormous devastation in St. John's Parish," Obama told reporters. He cited similar destruction in other parts of Louisiana as well as neighboring Mississippi and praised emergency officials for limiting the loss of life. 
 
 The White House has taken pains to depict Obama as deeply engaged in the government's handling of Isaac and its aftermath. His Republican predecessor, George W. Bush, was heavily criticized for the sluggish federal response to Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005. 
 
 Being cast in the role of consoler-in-chief could have political benefits for Obama, who is locked in a tight race with Romney and will accept his party's nomination in a prime-time speech on Thursday night in Charlotte, North Carolina. The convention begins on Tuesday. 
 
 "How y'all doin'?" Obama asked Trebor Smith, wearing shorts and high rubber boots, outside his storm-damaged house. 
 
 "Better now," Smith said. 
 
 One woman told Obama the water rose so fast that she and her family had to be rescued by boat. 
 
 Isaac was the first hurricane to strike the United States this year, hitting New Orleans almost exactly seven years after Katrina hit, causing an estimated 1,800 deaths. 
 
 But Isaac was a much weaker storm. It was blamed for six deaths in Louisiana and two in neighboring Mississippi, and both states suffered from widespread flooding. 
 
 ABOUT 125,000 STILL WITHOUT POWER 
 
 Even as the fading remnants of Isaac moved east, about 125,000 people remained without power in Louisiana, the governor's office said. With floodwaters not yet receded in some areas, about 2,600 people remained in emergency shelters. Obama has declared disasters in Louisiana and Mississippi. 
 
 Isaac's passage through the Gulf of Mexico last week forced cancellation of one day of the Republican convention in Tampa, Florida, and took some attention away from it. 
 
 Obama, staying away from the region while emergency officials were occupied with the height of the crisis, waited until Monday for his visit. He went ahead with a Labor Day rally with union workers in Ohio but freed up time in his campaign schedule by scrapping a second event in the battleground state. 
 
 Romney, a wealthy former private equities executive who has struggled to show that he can connect with ordinary Americans, detoured to the disaster zone the day after his convention. 
 
 Obama, overheard by news photographers allowed in for a few minutes while he was being briefed, said such presidential visits to disaster zones were "not just for photo-ops." 
 
 The White House sought to play down any political implications of the two visits at the height of election season, and highlighted the fact that Louisiana's Republican governor, Bobby Jindal, accompanied both of the men. 
 
 But White House spokesman Jay Carney, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, echoed Democrats who have pointed out that Romney's running mate, congressional fiscal hawk Paul Ryan, had earlier proposed sharp cuts in disaster relief spending. 
 
 "Our biggest priority is helping to house people who've been displaced ... to make sure they have the kind of support they need to get restarted," Obama said on the ground. 
 
 Carney's comments did not sit well with the Ryan camp, which expressed outrage that the administration would raise the subject of political differences during a disaster area tour. 
 
 "Apparently there's nothing the President's team won't politicize," said Ryan spokesman Brendan Buck. "Paul Ryan believes providing aid to victims of natural disasters is a critical obligation and should be treated as a high priority within a fiscally responsible budget." 
 
 Obama made a point of praising the Federal Emergency Management Agency, saying "in the past we haven't seen the kind of coordination that is necessary." FEMA was a focus of criticism for what was seen as the botched response to Katrina in 2005. 
 
 Obama also hailed the first successful test of New Orleans' new $14.5 billion flood defenses, a reinforced network of government-built levees. But he said flooding in St. John the Baptist Parish and elsewhere showed the need for further work and pledged federal efforts to find out what went wrong and expedite solutions. 
 
 Meantime, oil operations that had been interrupted along the Gulf Coast were coming back on line. The Energy Department said the Exxon Mobil Corp's joint-venture 192,500 barrel per day (bpd) Chalmette, Louisiana, refinery was restarting on Monday. 
 
 The department also said Exxon's 502,500 bpd Baton Rouge refinery has returned to normal production after reducing throughput because of Isaac. Only Phillips 66's 247,000 bpd refinery in Alliance, Louisiana, remained shut on Monday due to flooding and power loss from the storm, the agency said. 
 
 (Additional reporting by Ian Simpson; Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Eric Walsh) ||||| (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo) 
 
 NEW ORLEANS - Taking a detour from his campaign battleground tour, President Obama today surveyed a Louisiana neighborhood hit hard by the floods of Hurricane Isaac, reassuring victims of federal recovery aid and hailing the first responders who ensured no lives were lost. 
 
 Obama got a first-hand look at the devastation in St. John the Baptist Parish, one of the hardest hit in the storm, situated roughly 30 miles west of downtown New Orleans. 
 
 His motorcade passed streets lined with mounds of debris, uprooted trees, ruined furniture and appliances piled in yards and along the curb. The air smelled of trash and sewage as it baked in the 100-degree heat. He later went house to house in the Ridgewood neighborhood of La Place, shaking hands with residents and hearing their stories. 
 
 "There is enormous faith here, enormous strength here," Obama said after his tour. "You can see it with these families - they were just devastated a few days ago and they are already smiling and laughing and feeling confident about the future and pulling together." 
 
 Disaster response coordinators who briefed Obama on the recovery effort said that facilitating the return of more than 3,900 evacuees to St. John's Parish and providing them with temporary housing and transportation remains the most urgent challenge. Officials said they were also scrambling to reopen public facilities, like schools and fire stations. 
 
 "Right now we're still in recovery mode. And that means that our biggest priority is helping to house people who have been displaced," Obama said. 
 
 "We're also going to make sure at the federal level that we are getting on the case very quickly on figuring out what exactly happened here and making sure it doesn't happen again," he added, referring to the failure of a local levee meant to protect the area. 
 
 Flooding caused by Isaac was unprecedented and unexpected for St. John's Parish, flowing in quickly from two directions at the height of the storm and cutting off access on Interstate 10. 
 
 "Some of the folks we just walked by literally had to be saved by boat. They were in their homes trapped, the waters came in so quickly. And this is an area that hadn't been flooded in 17 years, so as a consequence folks just weren't anticipating and accustomed to the scale and scope of the destruction," Obama said. "But because of the great work of law enforcement, National Guard, Coast Guard, making sure that folks were out in rescue mode rapidly… no lives were lost." 
 
 Obama flew to New Orleans after attending a Labor Day campaign rally in Toledo, Ohio, part of a tour leading to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., which begins Tuesday. He had planned to continue across the state for a second event in Cleveland, but cut the trip short to head south instead. 
 
 The president denied political motivations behind his trip, telling first responders and members of the press that visits to disaster areas are "not just for photo-ops" - a point he later underscored in live, televised remarks. 
 
 "When disasters like this happen, we set aside whatever petty disagreements we may have," Obama said. "Nobody's a Democrat or Republican. We're all just Americans looking out for one another." 
 
 A bipartisan contingent of state and federal leaders accompanied Obama for the visit, including Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal, a top surrogate for GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, and FEMA administrator Craig Fugate. Democrats Sen. Mary Landrieu and Rep. Cedric Richmond and Republicans Sen. David Vitter and Rep. Jeff Landry also joined the presidential tour. ||||| NEW ORLEANS – Hurricane Isaac pounded Louisiana with heavy rains and damaging winds Wednesday as forecasters said the storm surge and serious flooding will likely continue through the night. 
 
 Isaac was still maintaining Category 1 hurricane strength, but just barely, with sustained winds of 75 mph, the National Hurricane Center reported. It was located directly over Houma, La., which is about 45 miles southwest of New Orleans. 
 
 The storm was crawling to the northwest at just 6 mph. It is expected to weaken to a tropical storm later Wednesday. 
 
 Widespread flooding was reported in New Orleans and other coastal cities. 
 
 One of the worst hit areas was Plaquemines Parish, about 50 miles southeast of New Orleans, where water spilled over a levee. Isaac passed directly over the region of marshland, fishing towns and marinas, peeling off roofs and flooding some areas. 
 
 The northern part of the parish is ringed in by the area's hurricane protection system of fortified levees and floodwalls. But stretches of it on the east bank of the Mississippi River and further south lie outside the protection system, making it vulnerable to storm surge and flooding, Parish Councilman Kirk Lepine said. 
 
 Isaac came up the western edge of the parish, lashing at the area with powerful winds and storm surge, Lepine said. 
 
 "It came in at the worse scenario we can imagine," he said. "There's nowhere for that water to go than here." 
 
 Rescue efforts were focused Wednesday in the small enclave of Braithwaite, on the east bank of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish. Sheriff Deputies there were conducting rescue missions of residents trapped in homes, as flooding from Isaac overtook the area, said Trooper Melissa Matey, a Louisiana State Police spokeswoman. 
 
 Braithwaite was under a mandatory evacuation order prior to Isaac but some residents chose to stay, she said. 
 
 Early Wednesday, state police troopers were escorting National Guard troops with high-water vehicles down to that area to help in rescue efforts, state police spokesman Capt. Doug Cain said. Many of the roads in the area had become impassable. 
 
 Flanked by marshes and water, low-lying Plaquemines Parish has been repeatedly hit by disasters - from Katrina to Gustav to the 2010 BP oil spill, Cain said. Isaac late Tuesday passed directly over the area, pummeling the parish with powerful winds and a strong storm surge. 
 
 "The geography of it makes it vulnerable," Cain said. "But talk about a resilient people. They've been through this before, and they're going to make it through this one." 
 
 Isaac also forced the closures of major roadways throughout the area, including US 90 at the Jefferson Parish/St. Charles Parish line, the causeway over Lake Pontchartrain and LA-73 south of Plaquemines, he said. 
 
 Besides dealing with downed trees across roadways from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, state police also encountered residents who may have underestimated the storm, he said. Troopers kept busy throughout the night with highway accidents, broken down cars and several DWI arrests. 
 
 "People aren't adhering to the warnings," Cain said. "Today, we're really encouraging people to shelter in place." 
 
 The Federal Amergency Management Agency has staged supplies throughout the south in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Arkansas and South Carolina. At Mississippi's Camp Shelby, FEMA has 54 generators and 256,000 ready-to-eat meals. At Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, FEMA has 1.2 million meals, 2,134 cots and 3,800 tarps. 
 
 Volunteer organizations such as the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army can provide 65,000 hot meals a day in Louisiana, FEMA said in its daily briefing report. 
 
 So far the 350 miles of levees and floodwalls surrounding and meandering through New Orleans were holding back storm surge water as designed early Wednesday, city spokesman Hayne Rainey said. The city had not received any reports of levee breaches or calls for rescues, he said. 
 
 Early reports from Isaac's effects were far different from the events that unfolded around Hurricane Katrina— which slammed the region seven years to the day and led to levee breaches and mass flooding of the city. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rebuilt the levee and floodwall system in the New Orleans area to be much stronger at a cost of $14.45 billion. 
 
 "All reports are indicating the federal levees protecting the city of New Orleans are holding," he said. 
 
 The storm landed at 3:15 a.m. ET just west of Port Fourchon, about 60 miles south-southwest of New Orleans, said the National Hurricane Center. 
 
 Isaac, upgraded from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane midday Tuesday, first touched land in Plaquemines Parish, about 90 miles southeast of New Orleans on Tuesday evening before heading back over the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 Because it is moving so slowly, the storm system could dump up to 20 inches of rain in some areas. The hurricane center said Mississippi and southeastern Louisiana could see peak surges of 12 feet. 
 
 In New Orleans, streets were flooding and up to 75% of residents were without power, Mayor Mitch Landrieu said. 
 
 "One of the great challenges with this storm … is that it's going so slowly … which means that it's going to hover over us," he told the Weather Channel on Wednesday morning. "The longer the rain and the greater the wind … (that) continues to concern us. That wind is really, really heavy, which is why it's important you stay inside." 
 
 "We're asking people to be patient," he said. 
 
 New Orleans, devastated by Katrina seven years ago to the day, was reporting 60-mph winds and drenching rains. Landrieu said about 1,000 National Guard troops are positioned in the city, working with police, firefighters and standing by for rescue operations. 
 
 More than 470,000 homes and businesses have lost power, including 156,000 in New Orleans and 162,000 in the New Orleans suburbs, Entergy reported. 
 
 The company, which serves most of southern Louisiana, said its crews would begin restoring power as soon as sustained wind speeds fall below 30 mph. 
 
 "We expect outages to last several days," the company said on its storm center website. "Severe weather conditions are expected across Louisiana and Mississippi through early Thursday morning." 
 
 Officials in coastal Alabama were heading out Wednesday morning to assess damage from the storm. 
 
 "Right now, we are compiling our assessment teams," said Paula Tillman, spokeswoman for the Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency. "As soon as it gets good and daylight, we'll be sending them out." 
 
 Some roads along the coast were closed because of flooding. "Those are down in those lower areas near Fort Morgan, right in the beach area," Tillman said. "Those roads are pretty typical for flooding." 
 
 At 6:30 a.m. central time, there had been no reports of injuries or deaths from the storm in Alabama. In Baldwin County, which includes the resort communities of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, 243 people were in two county evacuation shelters. 
 
 In Mobile, there was virtually no evidence of storm impact. 
 
 Officials were warning residents that flooding from storm surges and heavy rainfall expected with the storm could still pose a threat. 
 
 Southern Mississippi still has a long way to go before Hurricane Isaac moves past, but emergency management officials along the coast say they got through the night relatively unharmed. 
 
 No injuries or deaths were reported overnight in the coastal counties of Hancock or Harrison, which were two of the hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina seven years ago. 
 
 The biggest worry overnight from Hurricane Isaac? 
 
 "We're in the process of picking two people up who got stranded by the water and they're scared," Hancock County Emergency Management Director Brian Adam said Wednesday morning. 
 
 With sustained winds throughout the region topping out at about 40 mph, the main concern remains flooding from a constantly-driving storm surge and what is expected to be prolonged rainfall for several days. 
 
 In Harrison County, the rising waters knocked a boat off its moorings. County Emergency Management Director Rupert Lacy said the boat slammed into Popps Ferry Bridge, forcing officials to shut it down until crews can inspect the integrity of the bridge. The bridge is one of two connecting Biloxi from the mainland, but Lacy said it could be a long time before an inspection can be done. 
 
 "We cautioned our public safety employees…that you don't need to be out there if the winds are too high," Lacy said. 
 
 Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant took a tour of coastal Mississippi early Wednesday and said the flooding was extensive. He told WLOX-TV that he had spoken with President Obama and requested an expedited major disaster declaration to begin the next phase of the storm response. 
 
 "We are transitioning into … our recovery portion," Bryant told the TV station. 
 
 As Isaac's outer bands began bending trees and lashing rain across the city, those who chose to stay battened down homes, picked up supplies and sneaked in last-minute trips to local bars. Most stores throughout New Orleans started to close shortly after noon on Tuesday, and residents parked cars on grassy areas in the middle of streets, known as "neutral grounds," to keep them out of flooded streets. 
 
 Jim Rehkoph evacuated when Katrina hit, and the floods that followed the storm destroyed his home and most of his belongings. After moving to another house, built 12 feet above ground in the same Lakeview neighborhood — he's staying put. But bracing for a hurricane every few years is tiring. "I should sell my house and move," he said. "But where am I going to go at 60 years old?" 
 
 In other low-lying neighborhoods near rising Lake Pontchartrain, many homes were empty by Tuesday afternoon. Some residents who remained showed little fear of the approaching hurricane. 
 
 Dean Marshall, 49, stepped into Seminole Grocery for cigarettes and beer, then returned to his apartment. Marshall said he has endured many storms and is confident flood protections installed since Katrina devastated the city would hold back the water this time. "I'm not worried at all," he said. "We're going to ride it out." 
 
 Scores of fliers weren't coming in, or leaving. Flights to and from New Orleans were canceled Tuesday, and United and Southwest said operations would be halted until Thursday. United has 30 daily New Orleans round trips, and Southwest has 84. Flights at other airports along the northern Gulf Coast also are feeling Issac's pinch. Already, more than 1,300 cancellations have been reported in Florida. That number could approach 2,000 once the New Orleans and northern Gulf Coast disruptions are factored in. Most airlines have waived fees for rebooking flights canceled because of Isaac. 
 
 During a visit to Gulfport, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate said he worried that coastal residents were not fully appreciating the damage Isaac could do. Fugate, who headed Florida's emergency management division when the state was hit by four major hurricanes in 2004, said Isaac's slow approach could bring flood-producing rains for days and prolonged periods of tornadoes. 
 
 Search-and-rescue teams — including 48 boat teams deployed to areas prone to flooding and in direct path of the storm — have been mobilized, and Louisiana officials have asked teams from Texas and six other states to be on standby. Power crews, linemen and tree-trimmers are ready to restore power as quickly as possible if there are outages. Damage assessments, including aerial surveillance, could begin as early as Friday, Jindal said. 
 
 Louisiana has mobilized 40 "pods" in the southern part of the state and 20 in northern Louisiana — each designed to feed 5,000 people, Jindal said. 
 
 Across the region, schools and government offices have closed, hospitals and nursing homes have been evacuated and entire towns have been told to leave for higher ground. Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans closed outpatient services and rescheduled elective surgeries. Spokeswoman Susan Kaufmann said after evacuating patients following Katrina and closing for several months for storm repairs, "we're highly prepared and ready to go," Kaufmann said. 
 
 The Interim Louisiana State University Public Hospital in New Orleans, which normally houses about 170 patients on-site and 29 psychiatric patients at another facility, began preparing in earnest once it was clear Isaac was going to enter the Gulf of Mexico. On Tuesday morning, 500 staffers and doctors showed up, preparing for a three-day stay. Patients who were able to be discharged were sent home and off-site psychiatric patients were sent to a state facility in Pineville, La. Procedures not considered emergencies, such as elective surgeries, were canceled until Friday. The hospital is ready, partly because of lessons learned from Katrina, CEO Roxane Townsend said. "We've been hardened to be able to withstand up to a Category 4 hurricane." 
 
 Many Louisiana residents of the low-lying coast left boarded-up homes for inland shelter while some in New Orleans were torn between fleeing the metro area and trusting in a system that failed famously under Katrina. 
 
 "I find it eerie and ironic that it's landing on the exact day," said Timolynn Sams, a New Orleans community activist who chose to ride out the storm at a friend's house across the river in Jefferson Parish. "It's also a reminder. Katrina will always be a part of us. It's etched in our history, as memorable as Mardi Gras." 
 
 Officials were concerned that residents would get complacent and decide not to evacuate or take precautions. President Obama urged Louisiana residents to follow officials' instructions regarding the approach of Isaac. 
 
 "Now is not the time to tempt fate, now is not the time to dismiss official warnings," Obama said. "You need to take this seriously." 
 
 Obama issued an emergency declaration for areas of Mississippi under threat of rain and high winds. The declaration frees up federal resources to help state and local agencies dealing with the storm and its aftermath and makes federal support available to save lives, protect public health and safety and preserve property in coastal areas. 
 
 Nancy Isaacson, 59, of Waveland, Miss., lost everything except for a pair of blue lamps when Katrina decimated Waveland along with much of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She's staying across the railroad tracks from her house at a friend's place in a northern part of Waveland. 
 
 "It's kind of scary leaving the house, but it'll be OK," Isaacson said. "It'll survive. This hurricane is upsetting, but not devastating." 
 
 Isaacson is no stranger to survival. Four years after Katrina, her older son, Kevin, was killed in a motorcycle accident. Nineteen days later, her husband left her. One year, one month and one day after that, her younger son, Chris, was killed. "I've had my share of tragedy," she said. 
 
 Tony Mattina understands the power of a hurricane. When Katrina tore through Biloxi, Miss., his parents, grandparents and sister lost their homes. As he glanced at still-empty lots across the street from his home, Mattina said so many others endured similar experiences that there is no worry of hurricane complacency. 
 
 "Every day that goes by, there's always a reference to Katrina," said Messina, 49, as he boarded up his house. "There are still people living in temporary housing. There is still so much missing from Katrina. So I think we've done everything we can to prepare." 
 
 Isaac left 24 dead in Haiti and the Dominican Republic but left little damage in the Florida Keys as it blew past. It promised a soaking but little more for Tampa, where the planned start of the Republican National Convention on Monday was pushed back because of the storm. 
 
 Isaac is the fourth hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, following Chris, Ernesto and Gordon. A typical season sees six hurricanes. Preseason forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration called for four to eight hurricanes, while Colorado State University forecasters called for five hurricanes. 
 
 None of the other three hurricanes hit the USA, although Ernesto did make landfall in Mexico on Aug. 7.
– Just a day before the start of the Democratic National Convention, President Obama toured a storm-ravaged Louisiana neighborhood, promising federal aid and hailing rescuers. He drove to St. John the Baptist Parish 30 miles west of New Orleans, and went house to house in one neighborhood, reports ABC News. “There is enormous faith here, enormous strength here,” Obama said after his tour of battered houses, twisted road signs, and toppled trees yesterday. “You can see it with these families. They were just devastated a few days ago, and they are already smiling and laughing and feeling confident about the future and pulling together.” Obama's visit was designed in part to highlight the president's concern for local suffering, and his deep engagement in the government's handling of Isaac's destruction, in contrast to George Bush, who was lashed for the sluggish federal response to Hurricane Katrina, which caused an estimated 1,800 deaths. Isaac was a much weaker storm with only six deaths. Mitt Romney visited Louisiana last week.