Leroy and Lisa Smith sit in a boat after being pulled from Isaac's rising flood waters in LaPlace, La. (Chris …
From Biloxi to Baton Rouge and points in between, they had battened down the hatches to ride out Hurricane Isaac.
During the brunt of the storm, Yahoo! readers shared their eyewitness accounts in an online chat with thousands of others who were waiting for the worst or seeking information about family they couldn't find.
"I live in Raceland, LA. in Lafourche Parish. we have been in the eye of the storm now for about 8 hours. They say the worse is yet to come. Was pretty scary before the eye. No power." - Angela
"We lost most of our shingles,most of siding, we have 15 leakes in roof so we have water in 3 different rooms so will need roof redone siding redone carpet replace fences fixed and shhetrock replaced along with some furn. but one the bright side we are the only people we know from slidell to kenner who have power i guess i should count blessing" - Chalmette Girl
"I live in Waveland, MS. We have been getting slammed with rain, high winds & tornados since 6 am." - Unnamed Yahoo! reader
"Eye now has Baton Rouge (where I am) as a direct hit. It's pretty bad here at the moment. Very powerful gusts, not heavy rain, but non-stop and at this point, there's a LOT of water here. News says we're about to get worse in about 20 minutes." - Wahya
"Power line down in back of lakes of chateau. fire alarm going off in several buildings. no visible fire. will keep watching and listening." - Lindalou
Others relayed messages and pleas from relatives:
"My son has updated from New Orleans from the military base. They have extensive damage. Roof partially gone, the walls bubbled up in the dry wall from the rain going through their brick home on 3 sides. The soffet and facia is gone. Upstairs is heavily damaged and water logged. They are all safe and we are so glad to hear from them. It will be quite a while before they are back to normal." - JS
"My mom lives in Kenner and just drove her car to her sister's house. I was able to get through on my cell to her landline. Roads are open but there are very strong winds and rains. She feels it is worse than Katrina rains." - Suzy Lee
"Robert, Steph, Jeremy if you see this call MOM!!!!! Ive been calling all night...I love you guys, stay safe and find a way to get in touch with me!!!!! DONT BE STUBBORN GO TO ONE OF THE SHELTERS KIDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MOMS BEGGING YOU!!!!!" - Jennifer Barrera
And yet, there were also messages of hope at a time when many felt helpless:
"What a great format for sharing information...I'm new to the information Highway - my son and father live in Foley AL - Hate being so far away." - Unnamed Yahoo! reader
"This is so wonderful to have for those affected. 7 years ago we had no idea if our family was alive for 3 days in Biloxi." - Cathy