Oh man New Orleans is pretty messed up. I wish you and your family the best.
Let me know if you need
anything.
edit: Here is a whole bunch of information I gleaned from another site. Hopefully this will help out some.
http://flhurricane.com/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Louisiana
According to officials nearly one million people were temporarily without electricity in Louisiana for several hours. Currently, 800,000 are without electricity. Numerous roadways are flooded or damaged and many evacuations are being conducted by boat and helicopter.
The Sheriff of Jefferson Parish reported through WDSU that he expects his district to remain uninhabitable for at least the coming week and that residents should not return to the area. Incidents of looting have been reported throughout affected areas of Louisiana, most notably in New Orleans. Lousiana governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco has ordered all roadways into the state closed, as reported by WDSU TV.
Currently some 7,500 National Guardsmen are en route to New Orleans as part of the disaster relief effort. The United States Navy has also annouced that four amphibious ships will be dispatched from Norfolk, Virginia sometime in the next few days to assist with the relief efforts.
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New Orleans
Main article: Effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans
Eighty percent of New Orleans is now flooded, with some parts of the city under 20 feet of water. Two levees were breached, including the 17th Street Canal levee. In an earlier report, three people died of dehydration during the evacuation phase and another two died at the Superdome. [11]. There has been no other update of casualties since. Many refugees are trapped in flooded houses and rooftops waiting to be rescued. On August 30, Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco ordered the complete evacuation of the city of New Orleans, including the thousands of people seeking shelter in the Superdome. [12] Shortly after 8:00PM CDT, New Orleans Mayor C Ray Nagin confirmed on WWL-TV that pumping station 6 at the 17th St. Canal Levee, which had been partially offsetting the levee breach at that location, had indeed failed. He suggested that people take refuge in a second story and discouraged more people from going to the Superdome.
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Jefferson Parish
As of 9:35 a.m. on August 30, residents of Jefferson Parish who have ID proving they live in the parish will be allowed to return to their homes to retrieve essentials in about a week, but will then be required to leave the parish for another month. The failed attempt to repair the 17th street Canal levee will likely cause additional flooding in the parish.
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Terrebonne Parish
In Terrebonne Parish, signs, trees, roofs and utility poles suffered the brunt of Hurricane Katrina's fury when the storm roared across Terrebonne and Lafourche [13].
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Plaquemines Parish
On 29 August, the President of Plaquemines Parish Benny Rousselle issued the following statement: "Do not return to the parish until further notice. There are no public services available and all roads are closed and impassable at this time. Parish President Benny Rousselle has requested that only employees in Drainage, Heavy Equipment, Public Right-of-Way Maintenance and Solid Waste Departments return to the parish if possible" [14].
As of 9:35 a.m. on August 30, Plaquemines Parish is under martial law [15].
Reports from various sources confirm that the southern part of this parish has been "reclaimed" by the Mississippi River.
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St. Bernard Parish
At 3PM, August 29, in St. Bernard Parish, approximately 150 people were sighted on rooftops in areas that were under approximately 8-10 feet (perhaps more) of water. Among those on the roofs was a WDSU reporter and St. Bernard resident on a Government Complex rooftop. Search and rescue teams are being dispensed to these areas. Presently no deaths have been reported [16].
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Mississippi
Mississippi Emergency Management Agency officials have also recorded deaths in Hinds, Warren, and Leake counties. About 800,000 people are suffering power outages in Mississippi according to the Clarion Ledger. This is almost a third of the population. Rescuers are now reaching and saving residents from rooftops [17].
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Hancock County
Limited information is coming out of Hancock County. Sporadic reports from citizen journalists are posted at WLOX-TV [18].
The Clarion-Ledger reports the bridge between Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian is out. The roads in Pass Christian are filled with rubble. Casinos were ripped from their moorings and pushed inalnd. Destruction was heavy to residences and businesses. Some looting reported. [19].
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Harrison County
Harrison County, Mississippi was hit particularly hard by the hurricane and the storm surge. Its two coastal cities, Biloxi and Gulfport suffered severe damages and many casualties were reported.
In the city of Biloxi, Mississippi widespread damage was reported as several of the city's attractions were destroyed. Various restaurants have been destroyed in addition to news that several casino barges had been pulled out of the water and onto land [20]. In addition, most of the currently reported deaths (as of 6am CDT, the total death toll is 55) occurred in Biloxi. Residents that survived Hurricane Camille state that Katrina was "much worse," with storm surge reportedly reaching further inland than the previous catastrophic storm.
Four people are confirmed dead due to fallen trees. Jim Pollard, spokesman for the Harrison County emergency operations center, said there were 54 deaths in Harrison County, Mississippi, Thirty of those confirmed deaths in Harrison County were at the St. Charles apartment complex, near the beach in casino resort town of Biloxi, said Kelly Jakubic with the county's Emergency Operations Center [21] [22]. The apartment complex was reported, by local news sources, to have collapsed with dozens of residents inside. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour said that there were reports of 50 to 80 fatalities in Harrison County. [23] A spokeman for the Biloxi city, Vincent Creel, said that hundreds may have been killed when a 30-foot (9 metre) storm surge came ashore. [24]
Initial assessments at Keesler Air Force Base, located in Biloxi, indicate extensive damage, however there do not appear to be any fatalities of base personnel and their dependents who rode out the storm in shelters on base. As well, the pet shelter remained in good shape.
Interstate 10 between Gulfport and Biloxi is impassible due to debris in the vicinity of Biloxi River.
As of 5 PM 8/30, the following roads are closed until crews can clean the area [25]:
* Interstate 10 and Highway 90 from the Lousiana state border to the Alabama state border;
* Highway 49 from Jackson to Gulfport, Mississippi;
* Interstate 59 from Meridian to Picayune;
* Highway 63 from Lucedale to Moss Point;
* Highway 607;
* Highway 84 from Collins to Alabama;
* Highway 98 from Mobile to Hattiesburg.
Helicopter video from WBLT
http://www.wlbt.com/ confirms the Biloxi-Ocean Springs bridge totally gone.
Mississippi newspapers are reporting that Beauvoir, the last home and Presidential Library of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, was totally destroyed. In addition to the home, the site also housed the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library and was a Biloxi tourist attraction.
Authorities in Gulfport, Mississippi told CNN that 10 feet of water cover downtown streets [26]. An Armed Forces Retirement Facility within two blocks of the coastline was flooded on Monday, forcing patients, staff, and equipment to the upper floors. Additionally, three fire stations in the city reported various degrees of structural damage.
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Alabama
In Mobile, Alabama, Mobile Bay spilled into the downtown area to the depth of 2 to 3 feet. A flotel (floating habitat used by oil platform crews) broke loose of its moorings and slammed into the Cochrane Bridge.
Damage is quite heavy in coastal Alabama (similar to Hurricane Ivan in 2004), including significant structural damage. Even in the inland counties, some damage was reported - particularly related to fallen trees. [27]
More than 584,000 people are without power in Alabama.
Tornadoes have been reported near Brewton, Alabama.
Only two deaths have been reported in Alabama so far, both in a traffic accident related to Katrina.
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Florida
Damage to a mobile home in Davie, Florida following Katrina.
Enlarge
Damage to a mobile home in Davie, Florida following Katrina.
So far, 11 fatalities have been reported in Southern Florida, including three in Broward County, one in Miami-Dade County, and four in Miami [28]. A family of five feared dead was rescued by the United States Coast Guard [29]. Furthermore, more than 1 million customers were left without electricity [30], and damage in Florida was estimated at between $1 and $2 billion. The American Red Cross will be providing substantial support to those affected [31].
In addition, two traffic fatalities related to Katrina have been reported on the Florida Panhandle in Walton County. [32]
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Georgia
Western Georgia has been hit with bands of Hurricane Katrina resulting in heavy rains, damaging winds and several reports of tornadoes in Polk County, Heard County, and Carroll County. In Polk County, 3 homes were reported damaged by a tornado. At around 5 p.m. EDT, a fatal tornado in Carroll County resulted in the death of one person in a vehicle collision and caused damage to as many as 30 homes [33].
Severe weather has also been reported in northeastern Georgia, including tornadoes in White County and Hall County. In White County, a tornado struck the tourist town of Helen, ripping the top floor from an Econolodge hotel and damaging businesses at a nearby outlet mall. Thirty people were displaced by the storm, but no injuries were reported. In Hall County, several homes were reported damaged by a possible tornado in Lula [34].
According to WCTV in Tallahassee, a tornado in a feeder band moved through Decatur County to the west of Bainbridge in southwestern Georgia during the evening of 29 August 2005.
As of 4:00 p.m. EDT on August 30, 2005, tornado watches were still in effect through most of Georgia, as well as much of Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Virginia.
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Tennessee
Currently, at least 80,000 customers are without power in the Memphis and Nashville areas [35].
Some damage has been reported, primarily due to fallen trees. However, there have been no deaths or injuries reported in Tennessee as a result of Katrina.
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Kentucky
Significant flooding has been reported in the Hopkinsville area. Many homes have been flooded and in addition, part of Christian County High School, located just outside Hopkinsville, collapsed.
One person was killed in flood waters.
The Governor of Kentucky, Ernie Fletcher has declared Christian, Todd and Trigg counties disaster areas due to flooding. [36]
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West Virginia
Significant flooding has been reported in several communities, including Sissonville, forcing some local evacuations. [37]
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Potential effects further north
Despite being downgraded to a tropical depression, isolated tropical storm force wind gusts (and possibly sustained winds once extratropical) will continue much farther inland, likely through the Ohio Valley and the eastern Great Lakes region [38], even once Katrina becomes extratropical. Tornadoes remain a possibility along the entire track, primarily on the east and southeast sides of the storm center.
In addition, heavy rainfall (3 to 8 inches/75-200mm with local amounts exceeding 10 inches/250mm) could combine with locally saturated ground from summer storms to cause potentially severe to locally catastrophic flooding in the Ohio Valley region by early Wednesday, the eastern Great Lakes region by late Wednesday and eventually even parts of Quebec and western New England by Thursday. Some areas in those regions are under moderate drought conditions [39] and could use the extra rain; however, severe flooding is still possible depending on the rainfall amounts. One potential problem spot is Toronto, Ontario which had a major flooding event on August 19 which caused $100 million in damage, and Katrina could cause further problems [40]. In addition, along the western end of the Appalachians, mudslides are also possible due to the mountainous terrain.