Hurricane Isaac is likely to cause substantial flooding along the U.S. Gulf Coast, but losses should be a fraction of what they were when hurricane Katrina plowed the same path in 2005, disaster experts say.
If anything, Isaac may draw closer parallels to last year's hurricane Irene, which ended up primarily causing economic losses from inland flooding throughout the northeastern and New England states.
Some coastal areas could see up to four metres of storm surge from Isaac - the water that a tropical cyclone pushes forward as it comes on land - according to the latest National Hurricane Center estimates. Even well inland, as far north as Indiana by some projections, heavy rains are likely too.
By comparison, Katrina caused more than 7.6 metres of storm surge and $21 billion in surge losses, most of which were uninsured.
Not only is Isaac smaller, but coastal defences are in many cases stronger than they were seven years ago, leaving damage experts much less concerned.
