Hurricane Isaac hits New Orleans – in pictures

Henry Tabbe checks out the damage in his neighbourhood as Hurricane Isaac hits New Orleans Photograph: Sean Gardner/Reuters

Police stand watch over a crossroads in the French Quarter of New Orleans Photograph: Lee Celano/Reuters

An uprooted tree lies across Poydras Street in the centre of New Orleans Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP

A parking attendant's kiosk is overturned on Poydras Street in central New Orleans Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP

A traffic light felled by Hurricane Isaac in the central business district of New Orleans Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Strong winds and large waves engulf Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans Photograph: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

A group of men sit on a bench at the edge of Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans Photograph: Chris Graythen/Getty Images

A storm surge submerges a breakwater on Lake Pontchartrain Photograph: Skip Bolen/EPA

Ruffin Henry and Scout the dog swim in the rising water of Lake Pontchartrain Photograph: Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Matthew Pettus holds a sheet open in the wind on the levee near Lake Pontchartrain Photograph: Chris Graythen/Getty Images

A family shops for frozen items at Seal's Marketplace in Kiln, Mississippi Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images

Joe Moretz, who is homeless, sits with his dog Foxy by a boarded up store that has remained open in the French Quarter of New Orleans Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Blake Noblin paddles back to shore after helping his father Jeff Noblin gather boards from a neighbour's pier on East Beach, Ocean Springs, Mississippi Photograph: Michael Spooneybarger/Reuters

People make their way across Canal Street in New Orleans Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Dillard University students stay at the shelter in the gym of Centenary College after evacuation from New Orleans Photograph: Henrietta Wildsmith/AP

Chihuahua puppies in a kennel at the Houston SPCA Photograph: J Patric Schneider/AP

Water from a rising bayou floods properties in Bay St Louis, Mississippi Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images

A man shelters from the rain at a bus stop in New Orleans Photograph: IBL/Rex Features

Stores and hotels board up their windows in preparation in the French Quarter of New Orleans Photograph: Julie Dermansky/Corbis

A reporter in the rain in New Orleans Photograph: IBL/ Rex Features