The official death toll
is rising. Unofficial estimates of Harrison County alone are 80 dead. Two million without power. New Orleans under 20 feet of water.
Donation information here.
See user-submitted pictures of the disaster at Flickr.
Update [2005-8-30 19:29:41 by Hunter]: More information in the extended text.
Update [2005-8-30 19:29:41 by Hunter]:
From a transcription via tunesmith in comments earlier today, some reports from the mayor of New Orleans:
"We have 80 percent of our city underwater. In some parts of the city, the water is as deep as twenty feet. [these numbers are expected to rise -- Hunter]
"We have people still trapped on their roofs. [and in attics, where people fled during the rising flood waters and may be trapped -- Hunter]
"We have an incredible amount of water in the city. Both airports are underwater."
"The twin spans in New Orleans East are destroyed. They're gone.
"We have three huge boats that have run aground. We have an oil tanker that is also run aground. And leaking oil.
"We have a serious levee break at 17th Canal. It's causing waters to continue to rise in certain sections of the city. [...]
"I must tell people who are driving around that if you drive on the highrise, we're not sure about the structural soundness of the high-rise, because it appears that a barge has hit one of the main structures of the high-rise. [...]
"All of Slidell is under water.
"We have gas leaks that have sprout out, and even when they are under water, you will see a flame shooting out of the water. It's not a pretty picture."
It is far too early to even guess damage or casualties, because both are still actively occurring. There are now at least three known levee breaks, one of them in excess of 300 ft. Various reports seem to be indicating that the levees won't be fixed much before the water levels self-equalize between city and lake anyway, meaning the current flood levels within the city are expected to keep rising. The situation in the Superdome seems to be especially dire, with more and more refugees and rising flood waters threatening already inadequate backup power supplies. Helicopter footage shows communities of multiple thousands of homes underwater.
If you can donate to the Red Cross or other groups, please do so. The number of individuals who will be homeless in the coming months will be staggering; the number of individuals desperately needing food and shelter immediately numbers into the multiple tens of thousands.