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Updated..... 18:15EDT ...August 29, 2005 (IZ) Report by James Murray
(c) 2005
New Orleans Hammered by Katrina -- Damage Reports Coming in from
Louisiana and Mississippi
First Reports of Deaths -- More Details on Damages

At least two highways deaths in Alabama are being blamed on Katrina.
Untold number of others are feared dead in flooded neighborhoods in New
Orleans. Three people from a New Orleans nursing home have died during
the evacuation to church being used as a shelter in Baton Rouge.

Haley Barbour, the Mississippi governor, fears that there have been
fatalities. "The hurricane came down on us like a ton of bricks. This
is a terrible, terrible storm. There could be a lot of dead people, the
Governor stated.

Walter Maestri, in Jefferson Parrish, an emergency manager stated that
two walls haver collapsed on to vehicles which may have been occupied.
"We're going from home to home assessing the damage, but first and
foremost doing search and rescue activity to assess if people are alive
or deceased. We may have had fatalities. The powerlines are like
spaghetti lying everywhere, roofs have been blown off and found lying
several blocks away," stated Maestri.

"Some of them, it was their last night on earth," stated Terry Ebbert,
the chief of homeland security for New Orleans, speaking of people who
ignored evacuation orders. "That's a hard way to learn a lesson,"
concluded Ebbert.
Watch Streaming Video from New Orleans Television --- --- Latest
Hurricane Update From National Hurricane Center --- Watch NOAA
Animation of Storm Serge

Tropical Storm Katrina

40,000 homes are estimated to be flooded in St. Bernard Parish just
east of New Orleans. The storm surge was recored at more than 20 feet
in Mississippi.

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco reports as many 20 buildings have
collapsed in New Orleans, and many reports of residents stranded in
their attics or on the rooftops of their flooded homes.

The St. Bernard Parish emergency director said "the streets in the
parish are filled with water 4 feet deep". He also said that levees
were not visible.

In New Orleans' historic French Quarter, with many centuries old,
Napoleonic-era buildings with wrought-iron balconies, appear to have
not suffered from the severe flooding many forecasters had predicted.
In Jackson Square, however, two large oak trees standing outside of the
landmark 278-year-old St. Louis Cathedral were torn out, The trees
damaged a 30-foot section of ornamental iron fence. When they fell,
they straddled a marble statue of Jesus Christ, damaging the thumb and
forefinger of the statue.

Mississippi Governor Barbour, announced that weather conditions were
preventing search and rescue efforts earlier on Monday. Search and
rescue efforts are to be completed by National Guard and police, and
the Governor has authorised the National Guard to be "ruthless" with
any looters. "We know some people got trapped and we pray they are OK,"
Governor Haley Barbour said

The windows in a major Mississippi hospital shattered, billboards
destroyed and road signs and traffic lights smashed. Authorities pulled
stranded homeowners from roofs or rescued people from the attics of
their houses, which were submerged in flood waters. In Alabama,
exploding transformers lit up the early morning sky.

Along Mobile Bay, muddy, 6-foot waves crashed into million-dollar homes
along the normally quiet waterfront.

Governor Barbour has requested all people who have evacuated should
stay away until they are called back. There are reports that massive
flooding, and damage has occurred throughout the gulf-coast state.
President Bush Considering Opening Strategic Petroleum Reserves

"Obviously the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is there for emergency
situations, and that would include natural disasters. But it's just too
early to know at this point," White House spokesman Scott McClellan
stated to reporters aboard Air Force One. "The Department of Energy is
monitoring the situation. They will make assessments as they are able
to do so, and that's really where it stands right now," said McClellan.

President Bush, was in El Mirage, Arizona on Monday for a golf game.
The President said, "I want the folks there on the Gulf Coast to know
that the federal government is prepared to help you when the storm
passes. When the storm passes, the federal government has got assets
and resources that we'll be deploying to help you."
Expensive Storm

The cost of Hurricane Katrina could go up as high as $30Billion making
it the most expensive storm in United States history. Eqecat Inc. of
Oakland, California, preliminarily estimated insured losses at a
minimum of $15 billion. A $30 billion payout would make Katrina more
expensive than Hurricane Andrew, which resulted in more than $20
billion of claims when it plowed through southern Florida in 1992

Damage Reports coming in

Damage reports are starting to come in, but are still very slow. The
storm surge which threatens the 16 foot high levees protecting New
Orleans still has no confirmed reports that they have been breached.

There are reports of a levee break in the French Quarter of the city.
Pumps have apparently failed. Homes are reported flooded to the
ceilings.

"On the south shore of Lake Ponchartrain, entire neighborhoods of
one-story, shotgun-style homes were flooded up to the rooflines. The
Interstate 10 off-ramps nearby looked like boat ramps amid the
whitecapped waves. Garbage cans and tires bobbed in the water. Two
people were stranded on the roof as murky water lapped at the gutters.
"Get us a boat!" a man in a black slicker shouted over the howling
winds."

"Across the street, a woman leaned from the second-story window of a
brick home and shouted for assistance. "There are three kids in here,"
the woman said. "Can you help us?" Elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, the
storm flung boats onto land in Mississippi, lashed street lamps and
flooded roads in Alabama, and swamped highway bridges in the Florida
Panhandle. At least a half-million people were without power from
Louisiana to Florida's Panhandle, including 370,000 in southeastern
Louisiana and 116,400 in Alabama, mostly in the Mobile area."

New Orlean's bowl-shaped levee system has appeared to have held on the
Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain. Officials report, however,
that a breach has occurred nearby in the St. Bernard Parish, this is
where the eye of the storm passed over. Extensive damage was expected.

Reports that 150 people, stranded on the rooftops of their homes, in
that southeastern Louisiana parish, where officials say that 8 to 10
feet of water has flooded the region. "We're getting reports that (more
than 20) buildings are collapsing throughout the city," New Orleans
Mayor Ray Nagin said, adding it remained unsafe at midday. "This city
is under siege by Katrina."

Katrina's slight eastern turn overnight may have saved New Orleans.
This brought Katrina's powerful winds and tides into Mississippi
coastal tourist havens of Biloxi and Gulfport.

Parts of New Orleans are flooded with up to six feet of water Monday
after some of the pumps that protect the low-lying city failed under
the onslaught from Hurricane Katrina, according to New Orleans Mayor
Ray Nagin. Nagin reports that the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, on the
east side of the city, was under five to six feet of rising water after
three pumps failed.

New Orleans police have received over 100 calls from people in the area
who report that they are trapped on the roofs of their homes. The
National Weather Service reported "total structural failure" Monday in
some parts of metropolitan New Orleans, where Katrina brought wind
gusts of 120 mph.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a test. This is the real deal," New
Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin said Saturday. "Board up your homes, make
sure you have enough medicine, make sure the car has enough gas. Do all
things you normally do for a hurricane but treat this one differently
because it is pointed towards New Orleans."

Busy areas, throughout New Orleans were virtually empty. New Orleans,
usually thought of as a "Party Town" is not holding the usual hurricane
party that one might expect. Much of New Orleans Parrish is below
sea-level, and the hurricane storm could cause massive damage.

New Orleans, From "Quarter Cam at 06:00 August 29, 2005

According to the Washington Post, "When Hurricane Katrina hits New
Orleans on Monday, it could turn one of America's most charming cities
into a vast cesspool tainted with toxic chemicals, human waste and even
coffins released by floodwaters from the city's legendary cemeteries".

""All indications are that this is absolutely worst-case scenario,"
Ivor van Heerden, deputy director of the Louisiana State University
Hurricane Center, said Sunday afternoon.

The center's latest computer simulations indicate that by Tuesday, vast
swaths of New Orleans could be under water up to 30 feet deep. In the
French Quarter, the water could reach 20 feet, easily submerging the
district's iconic cast-iron balconies and bars.

Estimates predict that 60 percent to 80 percent of the city's houses
will be destroyed by wind. With the flood damage, most of the people
who live in and around New Orleans could be homeless. "We're talking
about in essence having _ in the continental United States _ having a
refugee camp of a million people," van Heerden said."
BBC News Streaming Video of evacuation of New Orleans

Across America today, and around the world, people are seeing images
from New Orleans and praying, and hoping for the best, but fearing for
the worst. The worst fears of many experts are being raised on
televsion shows world wide.

New Orleans Super Dome

The New Orleans Superdome is being used as an emergency shelter for
residents who have no other way to evacuate the city. The Superdome is
a "shelter of last resort" and despite a long lineup of upto four
hours, there are now thousands of people seeking shelter there. Worries
that there would not be enough food or water were resolved with the
National Guard bringing in 360,000 MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) for people
seeking shelter.

Holes in Roof of Superdome

The long lineups were dictated as all people entering were subject to
searches for drugs, alcohol, or weapons.

As the eyewall came ashore at about 5 a.m. Hurricane Katrina's power
was quickly felt at the Louisiana Superdome, where about 10,000 of the
area's poor, homeless and frail sought shelter. Electrical power at the
Superdome failed at 5:02 a.m.. Emergency generators have kicked in, but
the backup power only can run reduced lighting. The emergency
generators are not designed to run the air conditioning.

At just after 09:00EDT, the roof of the Superdome was damaged by the
winds from Hurricane Katerina.

Officials in New Orleans are estimating that up to 100,000 people are
simply staying at home, and hoping to ride out the storm. The Governor
simply commented that those people "pray" and that she hopes that they
are in a place as safe and secure that they believe that they are.

Local schools are being ruled out as emergency shelters. "Anything
above a category two makes them pretty much ineligible because
they're not wind resistant enough and they're in flood prone areas it
looks as though we're pointing to the Superdome in being reinforced
with the proper back up system as shelter of last resort," said New
Orleans Mayor Nagin.

"It appears a facility as large as the Dome could hold up in hurricane
conditions but Bill Curl, spokesman for the Superdome, says that is yet
to be tested and if there is no other choice then maybe the Dome could
serve as a shelter. "Only in dire emergencies. The Superdome is not a
shelter," said Curl. According to Curl, the assumption that the
Superdome can withstand hurricane force winds is just that: an
assumption. He says more analysis is needed to determine what the Dome
can actually withstand because previous wind studies have become
somewhat irrelevant since they did not factor in the new high-rise
buildings around the Dome."

The Superdome, opened on August 3, 1975, and construction started on
August 11, 1971.
Link to Historic Hurricanes and New Orleans

Disaster Planning New Orleans. Speaking on the announcement of the
decision to create a disaster plan, IEM Director of Homeland Security
Wayne Thomas said "Given this area's vulnerability, unique geographic
location and elevation, and troubled escape routes, a plan that
facilitates a rapid and effective hurricane response and recovery is
critical". The IEM team's approach to catastrophic planning meets the
challenges associated with integrating multi-jurisdictional needs and
capabilities into an effective plan for addressing catastrophic
hurricane strikes, as well as man-made catastrophic events."

The Mayor has declared a mandatory evacuation of the City of New
Orleans. This order only exempts police, military, emergency services
and other essential services. In addition, the city has authorized city
officials the power to seize private property as needed.

The economic impact from any major hurricane damage to New Orleans will
be substantial. The Port of New Orleans is at the center of the
world's busiest port complex - Louisiana's Lower Mississippi
River. Its proximity to the American Midwest via a 14,500-mile inland
waterway system makes New Orleans the port of choice for the movement
of cargoes such as steel, grain, containers and manufactured goods. The
Port of New Orleans is the only deepwater port in the United States
served by six class one railroads. This gives port users direct and
economical rail service to or from anywhere in the country.
View Webcam images of Port of New Orleans

The Port of New Orleans will began to lock-down its bridges across the
Inner Harbor Navigational Canal beginning at 7:00 AM Sunday August 28,
2005. It is anticipated by noon all bridges will be locked-down. The
order of bridges to be closed is as follows: 6:00AM DOTD will close the
Danzinger bridge and the Claiborne Avenue bridge. At 7:00AM the Port of
New Orleans will close the Almonaster bridge followed by the Florida
Ave. bridge followed by the St. Claude Ave. bridge followed by the
Seabrook Railroad bridge. The Orleans Levee District will close the
flood gates leading to these bridges and vehicular traffic and rail
traffic will cease.

"Crude oil soared to a record above $70 a barrel in New York after
Hurricane Katrina forced companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. and
Chevron Corp. to shut operations in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil had its
biggest gain in 29 months while gasoline and heating oil reached
records as Katrina, one of the most powerful storms to hit the U.S.,
crossed the Gulf, source of 30 percent of the country's oil output and
24 percent of its natural gas.

"Forecasters are saying Katrina could do more energy damage than any
storm in recent years," Jason Schenker, an economist with Wachovia
Corp. in Charlotte, North Carolina, said before the start of trading.
"It's not just that there's going to be outages for the next couple of
days. With shutdowns and damage at platforms and refineries, the
bullish impact could be felt for the rest of the year."

The area is crucial to the nation's energy infrastructure - offshore
oil and gas production, import terminals, pipeline networks and
numerous refining operations throughout southern Louisiana and
Mississippi.

Oil prices are very likely to be affected by the storm. Twenty-five
percent of the domestic oil production in the United States is produced
from off-shore rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Those rigs have been shut
down while Hurricane Katrina blows through the Gulf. About 1.5 million
barrels per day of crude and 12.3 billion cubic feet per day of gas is
produced in the Gulf of Mexico. As of Saturday, one third of that
production was shut down.

"It's been 36 years since Hurricane Betsy buried New Orleans 8 feet
deep. Since then a deteriorating ecosystem and increased development
have left the city in an ever more precarious position. Yet the problem
went unaddressed for decades by a laissez-faire government, experts
said. "To some extent, I think we've been lulled to sleep," said Marc
Levitan, director of Louisiana State University's hurricane center.

"Hurricane Allison dumped a mere 5 inches on New Orleans, nearly
overwhelming the city's pump system. If an Allison-type storm were to
strike New Orleans like it did Houston, or a Category 3 storm or
greater with at least 111 mph winds, the results would be cataclysmic,
New Orleans planners said."

Roads out of New Orleans

Across the Gulf Coast residents are jamming freeways and fueling
stations as they are fleeing Hurricane Katerina. The National Hurricane
Center has upgraded the hurricane to a Category 4 storm early on
Sunday.

The National Hurricane Center reports that "Coastal storm surge
flooding of 15 to 20 feet above normal tide levels ... Locally as high
as 25 feet with large and dangerous battering waves can be expected
near and to the east of where the storm makes landfall".

Routes out of the area were converted to one-way roads, to speed the
evacutation of civilians from the city. The storm, which made landfall
on Monday has the state of Mississippi and Louisiana in a state of
emergency with emergency officials granted the power to seize private
property and direct people to leave.
Why is New Orleans so vulnerable to a major hurricane?

Washington Post Graphic

"Today New Orleans rests within a bowl formed by 16 ft (4.9 m) tall
levees, locks, floodgates, and seawalls, the edge of the bowl extending
for hundreds of miles. It is bisected from west to east by the
Mississippi River, which is also contained within massive engineered
embankments. Water flows through and all around the city while its
residents go about their daily routines. A system of levees forming a
ring around the northern half of the city to protect it from surging
waters in Lake Pontchartrain is set to be completed within the next
decade."

With a predicted storm surge of 15 to 25 feet above normal tide levels,
there are serious concerns that the extensive system of levees,
floodgates and seawalls will not be enough. "In the 40 years since the
design criteria were established for New Orleans's hurricane
protection levees, southeastern Louisiana's coastline has been
subsiding-settling in on top of itself-even as the natural height
of the sea rises. A century ago any hurricane heading toward New
Orleans would have had to traverse a 50 mi (80 km) buffer of marshland.
Today that marsh area is only half as broad and the hurricane would be
striking a city that itself sinks lower every day".