Filling the Bowl

With this in mind, and recalling that our worship pastor's family resides in the vicinity of New Orleans, comes word that the worst may still be yet to come. As reported by blogger Brendan Loy, the breach of the levee system surrounding New Orleans could potentially lead to disastrous flooding:

WWL-TV: "Break in 17th Street Canal Levee is now 200 feet wide and slowly flooding the City of New Orleans. Huge sand bags are being airlifted to try to stem the rush of water in that area. The expectations are that the water will not stop until it reaches lake level."

In other words, the worst-case scenario -- flood waters completely filling the bowl, turning Lake Pontchartrain and New Orleans into one big toxic lake -- will happen, unless the airlift works or officials can find some other way to stem the flood.

Later updates are more hopeful:

It's not quite the worst-case scenario, because "much of the water that was in the Lake due to storm surge receded after the storm passed. It's still bad, but (a) the level isn't as high as it would have been if it occurred during the hurricane and (b) you don't have additional water being pumped in from the Gulf by a storm." So say the LSU researchers, according to reader/commenter Andy Simpson."Also, they explained that there is a ridge, the Gentilly Ridge, that runs East-West through New Orleans, that will likely keep the water mainly North of the ridge. Unfortunately, couldn't really tell from their graphic exactly where the ridge is located, but it seems that it is protecting the uptown area (at least for now)."I just want a rough number on how deep the water in the city is ultimately likely to get, once everything balances out.

UPDATE 3: "The LSU researchers indicated that they thought the breech could be sealed," according to another commenter.

Regardless, lots of prayers and lots of tangible support are the order of the day!

UPDATE: The Governor is now saying that the entire city must be cleared out:

With conditions in the hurricane-ravaged city of New Orleans rapidly deteriorating, Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Tuesday that everyone still in the city, now huddled in the Superdome and other rescue centers, needs to be evacuated.

"The situation is untenable," Blanco said, pausing to choke back tears at a news conference. "It's just heartbreaking."

The breach of two levees Tuesday meant the city was rapidly filling with water and the prospect of having power was a long time off, the governor said. She said the storm also severed a major water main, leaving the city without drinkable water.

"The goal is to bring enough supplies to sustain the people until we can establish a network to get them out," Blanco said.