Eyewitness News at 11, 8/28/12

I'm Leah Johnson. I'll be bringing you much more on the nominating convention...in just a moment.

And I'm Frank Malloy.

Hurricane Isaac has made landfall.

The massive storm is now officially a Category One... And New Orleans is catching its brunt tonight.

Drew Levinson is there.

<(VO)

rain is soaking Lousiana.....

NATS)

huge waves are crashing into Alabama's beaches.

(NATS)

And flood waters are rising in Mississippi.

(NATS)

Isaac has come ashore and is expected to stick around a while.

16:11:06 (SOT-Craig Fugate/FEMA)

"STAY OFF THE ROADS, STAY OUT OF THE WATER, IF YOU'RE SOMEWHERE SAFE DON'T GET OUT - THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE OVER QUICK."

Isaac is slowly churning over the Gulf Coast. - and could drop up to a foot and a half of rain.

The storm surge may reach 12 feet. Flooding is the biggest concern.

(NATS)

Wednesday is the 7th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.... when flood waters in New Orleans broke through the levees.

A new 14 billion dollar system of levees and walls now surrounds the city - tonight that system is being put to the test.

(BRIDGE: Drew Levinson/CBS NEWS/New Orleans)

Engineers say the new levees can handle a storm much stronger than Isaac... so officials here in New Orleans have not ordered a mandatory evacuation.

Most people are staying - and are safely indoors.

(VO)

But this is *still* the Big Easy and some plan to party through the storm.

*(SOT-mos)

"KATRINA WAS OUR DEVESTATION, BUT ISAAC IS OUR CELEBRATION - BECAUSE NOTHING IS GOING TO HIT OUR CITY LIKE IT DID BEFORE."

Thousands of people in low lying areas outside New Orleans were told to evacuate.

The Howard family is staying in a hotel - and hope they have a home to return to.

(SOT-MOS)

"MATERIAL CAN ALWAYS BE REPLACE BUT AT THE SAME TIME I DON'T WAN'T TO LEAVE MEMORIES BEHIND JUST HOPING EVERYTHING STAY WHERE I LEFT IT."

Isaac plowed through the carribean - causing destruction from Haiti to Florida.

It's now a more powerful storm - and is expected to slowly grind through the gulf states for the next couple of days.

Hundreds of oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico shutdown and were evacuated because of Isaac. Those rigs are responsible for about 17 percent of US oil production.

Now...coming up in about fifteen minutes on Eyewitness News...we'll have much more on Isaac in a live report...from our sister station, WXIA 11Alive. Their crews are on the ground in New Orleans, and we'll talk to them a little later.

At this time last week, there was some speculation... The Republican National Convention might not happen because of Isaac.

But tonight... The weather held back enough for the convention hall in Tampa to fill...and Mitt Romney to claim his party's nomination for president.

Danielle Nottingham captured the moment it became official.

<THE 2012 REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION GOT DOWN TO BUSINESS TUESDAY - NOMINATING MITT ROMNEY FOR PRESIDENT. NEW JERSEY'S 50 DELEGATES PUT ROMNEY OVER THE 11-HUNDRED-44 VOTES HE NEEDED.

SOT OF NOMINATION

BUT THE NIGHT BELONGS TO ANN ROMNEY... IT'S HER JOB IS TO PERSONALIZE AND SOFTEN HER HUSBAND'S IMAGE WITH STORIES ABOUT HIM AND THEIR FAMILY.

SOT - (Ann Romney, Mitt Romney's Wife) (:25-:29)

"you will see that my speech is heartfelt"

(GFX)

A NEW CBS NEWS POLL SHOWS ABOUT A THIRD OF VOTERS DON'T HAVE AN OPINION, OR JUST KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT ROMNEY. THE GOP IS TRYING TO CHANGE THAT WITH THIS CONVENTION.

SOT - (Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)) (:40-:48)

"Mitt truly gets it. Mitt understands the hopes and dreams of small business owners across our great country."

(Danielle Nottingham, CBS News) (:49-:58)

STANDUP BRIDGE: FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS, SPEAKERS - INCLUDING THE CANDIDATES THEMSELVES - WILL TRY TO ENERGIZE THE PARTY AND SELL MITT ROMNEY AS THE ANSWER TO AMERICA'S PROBLEMS.

SOME DELEGATES SAY ANN ROMNEY IS JUST THE PERSON FOR THE JOB.

SOT - (Rex Teeter, Texas Delegate) (1:03-1:07)

"she speaks very well... very articulate. She also speaks from the heart"

SOT - (LaDonna Ryggs, South Carolina Delegate) (1:08-1:15)

"she needs to remind people what she fell in love with Mitt about. And tell that story so that America falls in love with him."

ROMNEY WILL FORMALLY ACCEPT HIS PARTY'S NOMINATION WITH A SPEECH ON THURSDAY NIGHT. DANIELLE NOTTINGHAM, CBS NEWS, TAMPA, FLORIDA.

>

While the Republicans were celebrating the nomination of their presidential candidate, Democratic incumbent Sanford Bishop kicked off his re-election campaign for Georgia's 2nd District congressional seat with an old-fashioned political rally in Macon.

Bishop represented the eastern part of Bibb County when he was first elected to Congress in 1992. But court challenges and redistricting moved the 2nd District out of Bibb until reapportionment after the 2010 census brought it back.

And standing in the way of Bishop and an eleventh term on Capitol Hill is Republican John House of Columbus, a consultant and retired Army colonel.

Bishop says his continuing support of jobs and improving the economy and other issues will help his candidacy.

< Sanford Bishop, Democratic Incumbent: Better education, safer communities, clean environment, affordable accessible health care, a strong national defense in the context of a balanced budget.>

But House says Bishop's record isn't all that good, and he'll use it against him.

< John House, Republican Hopeful: Once they become fully acquainted with what he, I would say has not done, then they will understand that they need to look for somebody else who will go try to do something and who will try to improve the quality of life for the people of the 2nd District.>

Bishop and House meet in the November 6th general election.

Georgia's second congressional district includes east Bibb County and runs through Peach and Taylor counties and to Dougherty and Muscogee counties.

Macon city council members got a preview of the new headquarters for the 48th Infantry Brigade tonight.

They told Katelyn Heck why the tour gave them an appreciation for the brigade's past... And hope for its future.

The 48th Infantry Brigade hopes to open new doors within the Macon community.

<we've been here technically since 1825 in one way or another and we have not done a very good job of letting the stakeholders in the Macon Bibb County area know about us>

So the Brigade invited Macon city council members to look around the seven buildings that currently make up their headquarters... And view the floor plans for their new 57-thousand square foot readiness center.

<the new facility is custom built for the organization, so each subsection of the organization has its own working area which we don't have right now.>

The current headquarters holds between 30 and 45 soldiers on a regular basis... But on training weekends, which usually happen once a month... The brigade can bring in up to 400 service men and women.

Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Smith says the expansion will give them more room for specialized training in technology, combat, and emergency readiness....and will also benefit the central Georgia community.

<in talking with the mayor and chamber of commerce, everybody is very encouraged that a project of that scope cant help but benefit subcontractors here in the Macon, Bibb County area.>

<it's so important that the city recognize the contributions that these citizen soldiers and collectively the 48th combat Brigade are making to our country, while at the same time helping to develop our local economy>

The new center comes with a price tag of over 10 million dollars.

It will be built just behind the existing training facilty, which eventually will be turned into more classroom space.

Katelyn Heck 13WMAZ Eyewitness News

The 48th Brigade hopes to break ground by the end of September.

The project will take up to two years to complete.