Gulf Coast areas: Devastated
New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin is saying today that the city of New Orleans has been devastated:
The City of New Orleans Is Devastated. Those were the words of Mayor C. Ray Nagin and based upon a major breach of a levee system, water is flowing into New Orleans flooding it beyond recognition and could very well destroy New Orleans, Jefferson and the surrounding areas.
In a most frightening interview with WWL TV, Mayor C. Ray Nagin gave the worse-case scenario of events that anyone could possibly imagine. In the beginning of the interview, he stated that New Orleans is devastated.
Of most importance is the breach of the levee between Jefferson and Orleans Parish.
“We probably have 80 percent of our city under water with some sections of our city the water is as deep as 20 feet”.
Both airports are underwater
The twin spans are destroyed.
The Yacht club is burned and destroyed.
Mayor Nagin also stated he was not sure of the structural soundness of the highrise. He stated that it is possible that the highrise bridge in east New Orleans could be unstable.
The Mayor also stated that all of Slidell (a city which he has no jurisdiction) is under water. Nagin also stated that there was no clear path in and out of New Orleans, that I-10 is underwater.
The head of FEMA is saying the same thing about several areas at the Gulf Coast:
WASHINGTON (AP) – The nation’s top disaster relief official said Tuesday that Hurricane Katrina wrought "catastrophic" damage to low-lying portions of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and that additional medical personnel were being moved in to treat evacuated hospital patients.
With at least one New Orleans hospital threatened by Katrina’s floodwaters, patients were being transferred to the Superdome, said Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and medical personnel were being sent in to treat them.
The damage is "very, very sobering," Brown said. "And of course the flooding is just everywhere … New Orleans, all through Mississippi and Alabama. This storm is really having a catastrophic effect," Brown said on CBS’"The Early Show."
FEMA sent medical teams, rescue squads and groups prepared to supply food and water into the disaster areas and Brown said it would be "quite a while" before those displaced by the hurricane can return to damaged areas, especially in those areas near downtown New Orleans.
Please continue to keep the people in the affected areas in your thoughts and prayers. That part of the country, as we know it, no longer exists. Michelle Malkin has a Hurricane Katrina link round up here and here, including some stunning pictures and a ‘help the victims of Hurricane Katrina’ link that I hope everyone will visit.