More on Katrina

This is just terrible. They are estimating costs at $25 Billion. What this article, cut from the NYTimes doesn't make clear is that it was the very poorest parts of New Orleans which took the most severe hit...there are reports that people in the Wards, as they are known, are trapped in their attics unable to go anywhere. Further, several of the flood pumps in the Wards failed, delaying any ebbing of the water level indefinitely. The hardest hit area is the Eastern Mississippi Coast, which includes Bay St. Louis and other small communities; this area has been completely inaccessible to EMS and Red Cross workers. No one knows what the hell is going on there.

LOUISIANA:

--After hitting Florida last week, Katrina strengthened to a Category 5 storm over the Gulf of Mexico but weakened slightly and came ashore early Monday as a Category 4 storm with wind of 145 mph.
--Near Lake Pontchartrain, entire neighborhoods of one-story homes were flooded up to the rooflines. Up to 20 feet of water was standing in one poor neighborhood on New Orleans' east side.
--An estimated 40,000 homes were flooded in St. Bernard Parish just east of New Orleans.
--A water main broke in New Orleans, making it unsafe to drink the city's water without first boiling it. Police made several arrests for looting.
--Authorities rescued dozens of people from rooftops and attics.
--The highest winds in New Orleans were estimated at about 100 mph.
--Evacuations: New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ordered the entire city of 485,000 to evacuate. For those who couldn't, the city opened 10 shelters, including the Superdome. The mayor estimated that 80 percent of the city's residents had left.
--About 9,000 spent the night at the Superdome arena. Power failed, and three hours later the wind tore away metal and left two holes in the roof, one 15 to 20 feet long. Officials said the holes were not dangerous.
--Power outages: Some 370,000 customers in southeast Louisiana were estimated to be without power, but the number could end up much higher as authorities assess the damage.

MISSISSIPPI:

--Winds hit 135 mph as the storm pounded the Mississippi coast. Gulfport Fire Chief Pat Sullivan called it ''a devastating hit.'' A 22-foot storm surge was recorded in Bay St. Louis. Gulfport Memorial Hospital in Biloxi experienced major damage.
-- At least 53 people were killed. Jim Pollard, spokesman for the Harrison County emergency operations center, said 50 people were killed in his county, including 30 at an apartment complex in Biloxi.
-- Debris was stacked 4 to 5 feet high in some places, covering cars.
--Evacuations: The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said Monday that about 8,500 people were in 79 shelters. American Red Cross shelters were filled to capacity.
--Several of Mississippi's beachfront casinos were flooded, but the scope of the damage was not immediately known.
--Power outages: Exact numbers were unclear, but more than 200,000 customers from just one utility lost power.

ALABAMA:

--The storm hammered Alabama's coast Monday with huge waves and tree-bending winds. Water swirled in the streets of Gulf Shores.

-- Two people died in a wreck attributed to heavy rains from the storm.

-- Stately homes in a well-to-do section of Mobile Bay (Fairhope/Point Clear) were awash in brown baywater storming over docks and porches.

--Power outages: At least 400,000 homes and businesses were without power.