Hurricane Danny Moves On

NEW ORLEANS: As Hurricane Danny slowly makes its way towards coastal Mississippi and Alabama, inhabitants along the coast are preparing for a bumpy ride. Danny, which was upgraded today from a tropical storm to a hurricane, has already pounded Louisiana's Grand Isle with winds up to 75 mph and storm tides as high as six feet. Heavy wind damage was reported on the island, but so far, no one has been injured, local authorities said. The island's 2,000 residents have been ordered to evacuate. The storm is currently located about 45 miles southeast of New Orleans and is expected to move across the Gulf then inland somewhere between Gulfport, Mississippi and Mobile, Alabama by Saturday. The Hurricane is expected to dump 10 to 20 inches of rain on the region and produce isolated tornadoes in some spots. After forming Wednesday morning in the north central Gulf, Danny built into a tropical storm Thursday morning. It drifted northeast and then came to a standstill about 110 miles southwest of New Orleans. By Thursday night, Danny was on the move again, this time toward the northeast. It was upgraded to a hurricane early this morning as it moved over southern Louisiana.