Katrina update: Levee breached

. A LEVEE BREACH OCCURRED ALONG THE INDUSTRIAL CANAL AT TENNESSE STREET. 3 TO 8 FEET OF WATER IS EXPECTED DUE TO THE BREACH...LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO ARABI AND 9TH WARD OF NEW ORLEANS.

[9th ward is where many people died in hurricane Betsy in 1965]

St. Bernard Parish spokesman Larry Ingargiola says the parish's two shelters at Chalmette High and St. Bernard High are suffering major damage. He said Chalmette High shelter is losing its roof, and St. Bernard High has plenty of broken windows and glass. He estimates 300-plus refugees at the two sites.

Entergy says 317,000 customers were without power as of 6 a.m. Cleco reported 40,000 without power in St. Tammany Parish.

Air conditioning out at Louisiana Superdome due to power outages.

St. Bernard Parish officials say most of the parish has no power.

http://www.wwltv.com/

•  Wow, you heard it

  It's breakin' up for me (WWL)...thanks for this.

  by Barbara on Mon Aug 29, 2005 at 06:40:42 AM PDT

•  Doesn't it just take one levee?

  Or is the city partitioned in some way?

  Sounds like an iceberg and a titanic.

  by Kudos on Mon Aug 29, 2005 at 06:50:56 AM PDT

  •  not necessarily

    I believe that this levee is on the Southside of NO below the Miss. river, so I don't think NO is breached - yet.  I did read about one of the pumps going underwater and I assume not functioning.  Loss of the punmps would significantly affect flooding compounded with a levee breach would be devastating.

    by cracklins on Mon Aug 29, 2005 at 06:59:09 AM PDT

•  Water Up To The Wheel Well

  Im listening to CNN's John Zarrella reporting from downtown New Orleans in the French Quarter. He says the water level is rising & is up to the wheel well on the cars on the street. He says the water is bubling up through the manhole covers. He hasn't seen any structural damage to the buildings. A pump has also failed in the levee system.

  However, the National Weather Service is reporting "Total Structural Failure" in some buildings in New Orleans.

  by Rimjob on Mon Aug 29, 2005 at 07:04:54 AM PDT

  •  visited NO 3 weeks ago

    My daughter had never seen NO, so we did the Ghost Tour, which included discussions on the construction of the buildings.  If you live in an earthquake zone, you are familiar with metals beams that run throughthe building to secure them.  In NO some of the buildings have the same beams in order to keeps the walls together as the clay foundation moves.  In other words, the buildings are very flexible.  I wonder if that will be an asset or a flaw during a hurricane.

    by cracklins on Mon Aug 29, 2005 at 07:17:31 AM PDT

•  WWL is reporting

  that huge sections of the outer layer are peeled off and flapping in the wind.  Eye is just east of the city (a couple of miles)

  by guyermo on Mon Aug 29, 2005 at 07:07:19 AM PDT

  •  That would be

    the Superdome roof, not the levee?  Hard to imagine a levee flapping in the wind.

    by corvo on Mon Aug 29, 2005 at 07:08:52 AM PDT

•  FEMA claims levees are holding ...

  Some breaches, but they are built in stages, and the system is holding according to officials.

  by SteinL on Mon Aug 29, 2005 at 07:47:13 AM PDT