Isaac targets Gulf

NEW ORLEANS -- Isaac strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane with 75-mph winds as it made its way toward Louisiana. Forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center upgraded the storm on Tuesday saying that Isaac gained strength as it moved over the warm, open waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Engineers closed the floodgates around the city of New Orleans, hoping to keep water from the Gulf from surging into the area as Isaac moves closer to shore, threatening to cause major flooding. All eyes are on the newly reinforced hurricane protection system which includes 350 miles of levees, floodwalls and floodgates ringing the greater New Orleans area. Isaac will be the first true test of the $14 billion system, which was bolstered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers following Katrina in 2005. By Tuesday morning, corps engineers had closed 124 of the 127 gates in the city, said Tim Doody, president of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority East, a quasi-state agency created aft