Hurricane Isaac Slams Into Gulf Coast

Seven years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, Hurricane Isaac ripped through the still-recovering region. INSIDE EDITION reports from the center of the storm.

Al Roker and the Weather Channel's Jim Cantore hung to each other as Hurricane Isaac rolled into New Orleans.

The storm hit New Orleans overnight Tuesday, throwing reporters around like rag dolls. INSIDE EDITION's Paul Boyd was right there in the eye of the storm.

Boyd said, "Just when you thought the wind and rain couldn't get any more intense, you get another blast."

All through the night, the massive storm battered "The Big Easy." Would the levees hold?

Boyd went down to the popular Bourbon Street and found it to be a ghost town. Boyd said, "The street is normally packed with revelers from wall-to-wall. You can understand why police have asked to get people off the road. Just a few moments ago a piece of debris came flying off the building."

INSIDE EDITION's cameras captured a near disaster as a Weather Channel reporter barely missed getting struck by a huge chunk of metal.

Then, a daredevil thrill-seeker rode the winds down Canal Street on a skateboard.

The levees protecting the city of New Orleans held out, but one outlying district wasn't so lucky. In Plaquemines Parish the levees were overrun. Rescue crews plucked stranded homeowners from the water.

Isaac's punch may not have been as destructive as Katrina's, which hit seven years to the day, but for those covering the monster storm, it sure felt like a pummeling.