Isaac, a Category 1 hurricane with 130 kilometres an hour winds, made landfall in southeastern Louisiana around 7:45 Tuesday evening, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

The storm’s arrival  comes on the eve of the seven-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the region.

While not as powerful as Katrina, Isaac threatens to flood the coasts of four states with storm surge and heavy rains on its way to New Orleans, where residents have been hunkering down behind levees fortified after Katrina struck.

Isaac also promises to test a New Orleans levee system bolstered after the catastrophic failures during Katrina.

Airports in New Orleans, Biloxi and Alabama have closed down.

Although Isaac’s approach on the eve of the Katrina anniversary invited obvious comparisons, the storm is nowhere near as powerful as Katrina was when it struck on Aug. 29, 2005. Katrina at one point reached Category 5 status with winds of more than 252 kilometres an hour, and made landfall as a Category 3 storm.

More than 50,000 people living in low lying areas are under evacuation orders in Louisiana.

The storm 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 Monday start of the Republican National Convention was pushed back because of the storm.

The storm had lingering effects for much of Florida, including heavy rains and isolated flooding in Miami and points north. Gov. Rick Scott said that as of Monday evening, about 80,000 customers were without power in Florida as a result of the storm.

States of emergency were in effect in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.