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NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The Army Corps of Engineers says improvements to the New Orleans-area levee system did not cause Hurricane Isaac's storm-surge flooding of areas in Louisiana that were not inundated during Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav.

The corps says in a study released Friday that surge flooding during Isaac was the result of the storm's landfall just west of the Mississippi River, rainfall amounts of 8 to 20 inches, a forward speed three to four times slower than Katrina and an extended period of easterly winds that pushed surge heights to record levels.

The Times-Picayune reports that residents and elected leaders in several area parishes - including St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, Plaquemines and Tangipahoa - had pushed for the study after record flooding in some areas.