Cool Story
Ok, I'll tell you guys a cool story -- I'll post the pictures tomorrow probably.

Last night there were three flags flying around Lafayette Square, two at the building across the square from us -- the IRS building -- and one on the building on the eastern side of the square -- the Federal Court of Appeals building I believe it is. Last night, the flags were all flying strong!

Visibility was low all night and into the early morning, but when I walked out onto our balcony on the 11th floor overlooking the square, two of the three flags were still flying. Well I guess you'd have had to be there, but man, it reminded me of Key and the SSB. When I got out there, the flags were tattered and torn but they were flapping and you can just imagine the feeling of not being being sure if anything was gonna be there when all was said and done and then there she is.

Well don't get too excited. Both of the other flags got tooled by Katrina before all was said and done. And that just goes to show you that they should have been flying the Confederate Flag! ;)

Ok, now about the toilet situation: all of you telling me to go ahead and pour water into the toilet so I can flush after #2, that's a bad idea. The situation is such that if you flush a toilet in this city, chances are your flush is going to come out of someone else's sink. We're being told not to turn on any water at all, because it's all a mess and we're likely to get sewage. Pumping stations are not online yet.

If you've got a blog or a website and you've been linking my updates and want me to plug you, give me a shout here and I'll do so. I've been overwhelmed with IMs and emails and messages all day, lots of people thanking me, giving me credit for all kinds of wonderful stuff I probably don't deserve credit for, and sending me well wishes, prayers, and their love. It's great, and I'm glad not one person said "It's all Bush's fault" or "Kerry said Katrina was destroy New Orleans before he said it wasn't." ;)

We're uploading pictures right now and I'll post them soon.

The sun is still breaking through, although it's so late that it's only hitting the tops of buildings. Got some black hawk helicopters flying over the river, and those along with a few coast guard choppers are the only air traffic I've seen so far. Streets are teeming with life now.

Looks like the forklifts gave up on the trees blocking Poydras.

Oh, and if you happen to catch any of us on webcam, please keep in mind that we haven't showered since yesterday morning and some of us are holding in number 2s. ;)
More later.

UPDATE: Bad News, people: My friend Mike in Tampa who is from New Orleans has this to report:

The Yacht Club is on fire, Kenner has been hit hard, WDSU (channel 6 New Orleans) has a chopper up over Kenner showing the destruction. Looks like the CBD and Quarter got off the lightest. Kenner is flooded from lake to river - the malls are gone - it is really bad.

That's along with Chalmette and the rest of "Da Parish" which got nuked -- it's so bad that the rescue crews are bypassing people on their roofs to get to the people trapped in their attics.

So in summation: New Orleans got spared. The rest of the area got crushed.