NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- 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, Mayor Ray Nagin said.

Nagin said 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.

WGNO reporter Susan Roesgen, who is with the mayor at the Hyatt hotel, said New Orleans police had received more than 100 calls about people in the area trapped on their roofs.

The National Weather Service reported the Industrial Canal, in the eastern part of the city, had breached a levee and three to eight feet of water could be expected.(See video of near whiteout conditions and debris-filled winds)

The weather service reported "total structural failure" in some parts of metropolitan New Orleans, where Katrina brought wind gusts of 120 mph. While it offered no details, it said it had received "many reports."

Katrina came ashore Monday morning in southeastern Louisiana as a Category 4 storm, with winds topping 140 mph.

At 11 a.m. ET, the National Weather Service said Katrina had degraded to a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds near 125 mph.

New Orleans was prepared for a catastrophic direct hit from the powerful storm. About a million people fled the area, and about 10,000 people who couldn't leave hunkered in the mammoth Louisiana Superdome.

The National Hurricane Center said that the western eye wall was passing over the city at about 10 a.m. ET. (Watch video update on Katrina's path)

While the counterclockwise spin of a hurricane usually leaves the worst damage on its eastern edge, CNN meteorologist Chad Myers cautioned that "there's not really an easy side of a Category 4 storm" on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

CNN's John Zarella said that the wind was howling through the buildings in downtown New Orleans, ripping off chunks of debris and causing whiteout conditions.

He said that water was rushing down the street and had risen up to the wheel wells of parked cars.

Earlier, reporter Ed Reams from affiliate WDSU told CNN that Katrina ripped away a large section of the Superdome's roof. (See video of conditions within the darkened Superdome)

"I can see daylight straight up from inside the Superdome," Reams reported.

National Guard troops moved people to the other side of the dome. Others were moving beneath the concrete-reinforced terrace level.

About 70 percent of New Orleans is below sea level and is protected from the Mississippi River by a series of levees. (Full story)

NHC deputy director Ed Rappaport told CNN that New Orleans could expect a storm surge of 15 to 20 feet.

That surge wouldn't top New Orleans' levees, but CNN's Myers noted that "there may be a 20-foot surge, but there may be a 20-foot wave on top of that."

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said it was too soon to feel any sense of relief.

"We don't know yet," she said. "We still have a long way to go throughout this day. We are watching. We are worried of course."

At 11 a.m. ET, the storm was centered about 35 miles east-northeast of New Orleans and 45 miles west-southwest of Biloxi, Mississippi. Hurricane force winds extended about 125 miles from the storm's center.

The storm was moving north at 15 mph.

The storm's eastern eye wall was approaching Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi.

Authorities in Gulfport told CNN that 10 feet of water cover downtown streets.

"There is intense damage," said CNN's Gary Tuchman from Gulfport. "We are watching the dismantling of a beautiful town."

"We are watching these building deteriorate and break down before our eyes," he said. "Because the water is so deep, boats are floating up the street. There is extensive damage here. This is essentially right now like hell on earth."

In Biloxi, CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano reported that wind gusts topping 100 mph were starting to pull the roofs off of nearby buildings. (Watch video report from Biloxi, Mississippi)

Hurricane warnings are posted from Morgan City, Louisiana, eastward to the Alabama-Florida state line, including New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain. This means winds of at least 74 mph are expected in the warning area within the next 24 hours.

A tropical storm warning is in effect from the Alabama-Florida state line eastward to Destin, Florida, and from west of Morgan City to Intracoastal City, Louisiana. A tropical storm warning is also in effect from Intracoastal City, Louisiana, west to Cameron, Louisiana, and from Destin, Florida, eastward to Indian Pass, Florida.

A tropical storm warning means tropical storm conditions, including winds of at least 39 mph, are expected within 24 hours.

Isolated tornadoes are also possible Monday across southern portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, forecasters said.
Three deaths in New Orleans

Three residents of a New Orleans nursing home died Sunday while being evacuated to Baton Rouge, said Don Moreau, chief of operations for the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner's Office.

The 23 residents were supposed to stay at a church, where one of the bodies was found. The other body was found on a school bus and a third person died at a hospital, Moreau said.

The others were found to be suffering from various forms of dehydration and exhaustion, he said.

Moreau did not know whether authorities would term the deaths storm-related. "These people are very fragile," he said. "When they're loaded up on a school bus and transported out of New Orleans ..."

One person died in similar circumstances during evacuations from Hurricane Ivan, he said.

Katrina is blamed for at least seven deaths in Florida, where it made landfall Thursday as a Category 1 hurricane. As much as 18 inches of rain fell in some areas, flooding streets and homes.

Category 5 is the most intense on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Only three Category 5 hurricanes have made landfall in the United States since records were kept. Those were the Labor Day hurricane of 1935, 1969's Hurricane Camille and Hurricane Andrew, which devastated the Miami area in 1992. Andrew remains the costliest U.S. hurricane on record, with $26.5 billion in losses.

Camille came ashore in Mississippi and killed 256 people.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/29/hurricane.katrina/index.html

quote:

Originally posted by soccerchic06:
I think it's just amazing to see how people in New Orleans reacted to the situation. They are turning into animals and turning on each other. This is not how PEOPLE act, or should act, during a crisis. They need to pull themselves together if they ever plan on getting through this alive. Who can we turn to when we need help when we can't trust or depend on each other. The looting and fighting and everything else is just absolutly crazy. And it's just going to get worse once the disease starts to spread. Worry and stress makes everything harder than it really is.

So what are they supposed to do? Just sit on their butts waiting for people to come help them? That alone has taken nearly a week. When you've got people dying around you while you yourself have no access to food or clean water, what else are you going to do? It's not looting, I can't stand it when people keep using that word. Aside from the few people who are taking things they do not need, the majority of them are taking the NECESSITIES. These people are in dire need of food and water, and I can't even count the stories I've heard about the elderly who have no access to their medication. It's now Saturday and authority has just now been called to action - nearly a week. No one has been there to help them, what else do you expect them to do? Just sit back and float in the water to their death?

quote:

Originally posted by soccerchic06:
I think it's just amazing to see how people in New Orleans reacted to the situation. They are turning into animals and turning on each other. This is not how PEOPLE act, or should act, during a crisis. They need to pull themselves together if they ever plan on getting through this alive. Who can we turn to when we need help when we can't trust or depend on each other. The looting and fighting and everything else is just absolutly crazy. And it's just going to get worse once the disease starts to spread. Worry and stress makes everything harder than it really is.

It is really easy to be an armchair quarterback and say that. However when you are starving and dehydrated, with people dieing around you, with no hope of rescue, you don't really think logically.

There's that old college experiment where you add one rat to a cage every day until mass chaos ensues. It doesn't matter how much water or food there is, the rats will slowly kill one another until the last one dies of injuries.

I think it's just amazing to see how people in New Orleans reacted to the situation. They are turning into animals and turning on each other. This is not how PEOPLE act, or should act, during a crisis. They need to pull themselves together if they ever plan on getting through this alive. Who can we turn to when we need help when we can't trust or depend on each other. The looting and fighting and everything else is just absolutly crazy. And it's just going to get worse once the disease starts to spread. Worry and stress makes everything harder than it really is.



love is the one thing you can never do wrong.

I'm in JROTC in San Antonio, TX and our JROTC building is being used as a red cross sheltor (they were supposed to be out today and sent to what used to be Kelly USA air force base but it's over it's limit) these people need baby things (diapers, formula, etc) and HEB cards (for people who don't live in south Texas HEB is a grocery store)and the little kids would probley like some toys and a few movies (there is a VCR in the classroom of the JROTC building-and these kids are just sitting there cause they have limited access to the campus) So if any of you live in San Antonio please bring by some of the above mentioned things (NO clothing or food-everything is just sitting in the sun) to MacArthur High School on Bitters road.

-O also these people have really put my life into perspective I never expected to see them smiling but they are and wow it just floors me

the scale of this disaster is obvious, but what is truly shocking is the ruthless animal savagery of those which are taking advantage of the anarchy. Looters, rapists, hijackers...to a point where martial law has been declared, and police are handing in their badges, unwilling to save people who then turn around and attack them. The worlds richest nation looks more like a third world nation here, we just hope rebuilding can occur...and people re-housed and the criminals imprisioned.

To Iceland:

I think I saw that report only last night (my computer won't let me watch what you posted). That guy completely lost his cool towards that politician lady who kept thanking other politicians, understandably. It was such an intense moment, I kept changing the channel hoping they were done. I can understand though, how on earth do you keep your cool if you've seen a womans corpse being eaten by rats? Talking to people who keep crying into the camera? Then comes this lady very calm while you just want to scream at her....i'm just going to take a moment to applaud every single reporter who has been in a crisis area like that.

I live in Clinton, MS which borders Jackson, the capital. My lights went off Monday at like 11:30a.m. The winds were really bad that night and we noticed buildings down the street lost roofs and shingles. My home however did not suffer damage but a few boards flew from my fence. We had to keep listening to a battery powered radio for information. We kept hearing that the Gulf Coast and New Orleans were destroyed. Fortunaely my lights came back on at about 8:00 Wednesday night. We finally saw the damage we had been hearing about. My family is lucky that we only lost the food in our fridge. Many others lost their lives and the death toll is climbing. I am really happy about all the positive comments and generous donations that people from other states have offered(93 million raised in 3 days). I hope that anyone who has family and friends in the affected area is able to get in contact with them and hear good news.

quote:

To different minds, the same world is a hell, and a heaven.

quote:

Building a city below sea level in a hurricane prone area was a pretty stupid idea.

It wasn't below sea level four hundred years ago. Besides that, it is the perfect location for a city. It's at the mouth of a major river, on an easily navigable stretch of coast, and is surrounded by good ariable land.

quote:

We build our houses with very strong materials and each family has extra supplies at hand during the hurricane season. Those that can't afford it go to shelters.

Well that's all well and good for Puerto Rico that gets hit with hurricanes normally. I'd also like to point out that your tough structures and supplies don't mean much when you've got 160mph winds and rains that rip sections of the roof off of the Superdome and a 30 foot rise in sea level.

This storm was massive, and anyone who calls people "dumb" for living there are ignorant and juvenile. The strength of this storm was unprecedented, and many of these people had been through many hurricanes, including large disasterous ones. You'll always have people who stay, and I garuntee you have those who do the same in Puerto Rico.

New Orleans is a dying city. The Missisippi is naturally shifting to another lobe of the delta, and that means that the city is going to sink into the ocean. It doesn't have to do with our interference, rather our interference has lessened to problem (somewhat). You can't just tell a city of millions of people with strong heritage to just "give up and move your city someplace else" before something terrible happens. That's just the way people are.

I don't know if they should even bother to rebuild half the city, but well, they will.

It's interesting to see nature really trash the modern world like this. It reminds people that the world isn't a nice comfortable place, no matter how expensive the rims on your car are, or how much your stock portfolio is worth, nature still can destroy cities and cause national economic crisis.

quote:

This happens every year and is only getting worse.

It's not getting worse. There have been storms like this before, we just haven't been here. They're not common. Look at the actual long term hurricane data.

quote:

You'd think that the people who live there would get a clue!

When they established NO, it was above sea-level, but the levis they put in altered the waterflow, causing little silt to be delivered to New Orleans. That's why its below sea-level.

quote:

What do you do W/ pets in a horrible situation like this?

Pets? The people either take them with them or they die. I really don't think they're going to live through twenty feet of water flooding a city, do you? The mayor of New Orleans just said that approximately 1000 people are dead. I'm personally more worried about the people.

quote:

I don't have a clue WHY only in the US do these people decide to stay in their crappy wooden homes during a massive hurricane.

It's stupid.

Yes, we Americans tend to be stupid. But we have to remember that most of the people who didn't leave didn't have the means to. No car. Of course they could have walked, but that would have taken ages. They didn't even have enough gas in the area to fill up cars, let alone buses and public transportation to ship the carless and homeless out.

quote:

It may seem cruel, but i tend to not care anymore. This happens every year and is only getting worse. You'd think that the people who live there would get a clue!

Agreed. Where I live (Puerto Rico), we're prone to hurricanes. We build our houses with very strong materials and each family has extra supplies at hand during the hurricane season. Those that can't afford it go to shelters.

I don't have a clue WHY only in the US do these people decide to stay in their crappy wooden homes during a massive hurricane.

It's stupid.

quote:

Originally posted by Critikay:
It may seem cruel, but i tend to not care anymore. This happens every year and is only getting worse. You'd think that the people who live there would get a clue!

What do your propose they do when you say 'get a clue'?

A weatherman meteorologist gets mad while reporting on Katrina. See here.

Building a city below sea level in a hurricane prone area was a pretty stupid idea.

The pets are stranded as well, or they drown.

It may seem cruel, but i tend to not care anymore. This happens every year and is only getting worse. You'd think that the people who live there would get a clue!

What do you do W/ pets in a horrible situation like this?

Lol, does the looting actually surprise anyone? I mean, during the blackout in August of ..what was it, '03? NY stores were looted continuously. (Of course, it wasn't as bad as the blackout in the summer of '76 in NYC.)

I always wanted to pay 3+ bucks a gallon for gas. Really, I did. Just so when we go on like..solar-powered or...macademia-nut powered engines, I can be like, "I PAID FORTY DOLLARS TO DRIVE MY CAR AROUND THE BLOCK. Back in my day, cars didn't just go when the sun was out. Oh no. We inhaled fumes and we LIKED IT. Kids..."

Looting Begans in New Orleans by Allen G. Breed, Associated Press Writer

NEW ORLEANS - With much of the city emptied by Hurricane Katrina, some opportunists took advantage of the situation by looting stores.

At a Walgreen's drug store in the French Quarter, people were running out with grocery baskets and coolers full of soft drinks, chips and diapers.

When police finally showed up, a young boy stood in the door screaming, "86! 86!" — the radio code for police — and the crowd scattered.

Denise Bollinger, a tourist from Philadelphia, stood outside and snapped pictures in amazement.

"It's downtown Baghdad," the housewife said. "It's insane. I've wanted to come here for 10 years. I thought this was a sophisticated city. I guess not."

Around the corner on Canal Street, the main thoroughfare in the central business district, people sloshed headlong through hip-deep water as looters ripped open the steel gates on the front of several clothing and jewelry stores.

One man, who had about 10 pairs of jeans draped over his left arm, was asked if he was salvaging things from his store.

"No," the man shouted, "that's EVERYBODY'S store."

Looters filled industrial-sized garbage cans with clothing and jewelry and floated them down the street on bits of plywood and insulation as National Guard lumbered by.

Mike Franklin stood on the trolley tracks and watched the spectacle unfold.

"To be honest with you, people who are oppressed all their lives, man, it's an opportunity to get back at society," he said.

The hurricane is a release of the emotions Kat represses while maintaining her facade as a cold, emotionless being.

That's my theory anyway.