From the Salmon

My last update on Sunday night’s Katrina post was slightly relieved and even a little hopeful. On Monday morning, it truly seemed as though New Orleans had escaped the worst of the hurricane and that the predictions of catastrophic flooding had been averted.

Well, that momentary relief has turned to horror as the levees began to break this morning. With floods rising in New Orleans and cities like Gulfport and Biloxi bearing the full fury of the storm, it looks like this might be the most costly disaster in American history.

Once it flows in, the water will not drain from New Orleans because of the very levees that protect the city and that largely held during the hurricane. Those levees, built to keep water out, are now keeping the water in, and reports from across the city indicate that water levels are rising.

There was also growing concern that the floodwaters were carrying sewage, spilled fuel and other potentially dangerous pollutants.

In addition, bodies were seen floating in the rising waters, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin reported. But it was not immediately clear whether they were victims of Katrina or corpses unearthed from the above-ground tombs of the city’s cemeteries.

It now appears that those who evacuated the city may not be allowed to return for as long as a month. I can’t even imagine how confusing and scary that must be.

I posted these earlier, but here they are again:
American Red Cross
Catholic Charities USA
Others...