[Ghoulish Delight]

Reports out of New Orleans are spotty and mixed. So far it seems the worst-case scenarios have been avoided. There's still a danger if the winds reach the lake to the north, but with the storm already down to category 4 and still drifting east, it seems unlikely.

But it's sitll not pretty. There are reports of as much as 8 feet or more of water in at least one secion of the city as at least one levy was overwhelmed, plus one of the city's massive pumps designed to keep rain water out went down. Neighborhoods on the south shore of the lake to the north are flooded up to rooflines. Buildings have collapsed, and the roof of the Superdome, the last resort shelter for people who don't have a car or couldn't afford the expense of gas and lodging in order to evacuate, has ripped open. Fortunately, while it's left the field soaked and the emergency power generators can't run the a/c, the stadium remains structurally safe and the people have food, water, and shelter.

Mississippi looks like it's going to get the worst of the storm in terms of force, but that's less of a concern than if low-lying NOLA had gotten hit much worse. The worst-case scneario predictions talked about the entire city being under 6 feet of toxic water that would take up to 6 months to completely drain. Yikes.