Tropical Storm Isaac: Still Mildly Annoying Miami, Threatening New Orleans

The worst of Tropical Storm Isaac has officially blown through the Keys and into the Gulf this morning, though its sloppy remains are still drenching Dade. Riptide's storm experts have begun tallying the damage Isaac wrought in Florida: 80,000 or so without power, minor flooding here and there, and dozens of TV newspeople still gasping for breath after furiously chasing every report of a downed palm frond in the metro area.

How will you remember Isaac's mild inconvenience devastation?

Isaac's center is now located well to the northwest of Key West, but most of Miami-Dade remains under a tropical storm warning this morning as feeder bands from the storm keep drenching the area. (Tampa also remains under a tropical storm warning, but the Republican National Convention should begin on schedule -- one day late -- on Tuesday.)

NOAA's latest update reports the storm still packing winds around 65-miles-per-hour and headed to the northwest at 14 miles-per-hour.

All of the Louisiana coast -- including New Orleans -- and the Florida Panhandle east to Destin are now under a hurricane warning. The storm should reach the coast by Tuesday.

via NOAA

While Isaac might actually pose some problems for New Orleans right around the anniversary of Katrina, Miami will remember the storm as ... well, honestly we won't really remember it at all in a couple of weeks.

The storm was mostly an excuse for corner markets to sell tons of beer and bottled water and TV folks to freak out on camera for a few days. (Check out Random Pixels this morning for a fine rundown of the weekend's worst moments of TV journalism -- including a man mooning the cameras in Key West.)

If you're feeling a little let down, though, don't worry -- NOAA's already monitoring two more systems off the coast of Africa that might well develop later this week. Hooray, hurricane season!

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