from my mom

I spoke to B(her sister) about 20 minutes ago the eye was about 20 to 30 miles south of her and she was trying to play solitaire but had forgotten how due to playing on the computer. Anyway as I was speaking to her a forth pine tree in their front yard fell, not on the house so far, she most likely has a couple more hours to go before the worst is over. I haven't heard from J( her brother). I think he had more oaks then pines. Pine are usually the first to go. She is to call me later when things calm down.

beth, your family is in my thoughts.

Updates:

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A building in Metairie has collapsed, and people are believed to be trapped inside. Rescue officials were still trying to get to any possible victims but were hampered by continuing severe weather. In addition, the East Bank of Jefferson Parish is flooded -- including East Jefferson Hospital. There are also reports of waist-deep water inside homes throughout Metairie.

Oh, beth, I hope all of your relatives and their homes are okay.

In terms of New Orleans, it's St. Bernard and Chalmette that are really getting hammered.

Hurricane Katrina hammered the Lower 9th Ward and St. Bernard Parish, with residents telling tales of stranded people being plucked from their rooftops by passing boaters and flood waters as high as 12 feet well into Chalmette.

Residents fled the surging water, which quickly rose as the brunt of Katrina plowed ashore near eastern St. Bernard Parish.

Arabi resident Donald Bordelon told a Times-Picayune reporter via cell phone that at 8:30 a.m. there was just wind damage the homes on his block of Schnell Drive. But 40 minutes later, floodwaters had risen over the stove in his kitchen, as he scrambled to ready his boat for an evacuation.

Residents reported high water flooding such institutions as Rocky and Carlo's restaurant at the corner of St. Bernard Highway and Lloyd's Avenue. Others reported that homes on Campagna Drive were nearly underwater.

At Chalmette High School on Judge Perez Drive, officials had set up a shelter of last resort late Sunday. By Monday morning, the first floor of the high school was under water and the evacuees huddled in rooms on the second floor, reporting that they could only see rooftops of the surrounding homes.

The St. Bernard Parish government building, also on Judge Perez Drive, was said to have taken on 8 to 10 feet of water. The government building is in a stretch of the highway that comprises one of the parish's main economic centers, with a huge new Super Wal Mart nearby.

Huh.. did Katrina wash all the Natterers away?

There's a Katrina and the Waves joke in there somewhere.

There's a Katrina and the Waves joke in there somewhere.

Not to mention some seriously confused vampires.

In terms of New Orleans, it's St. Bernard and Chalmette that are really getting hammered.

Oof. That's just east of the Quarter and Marigny. Those poor water logged people. That's gonna be some horrible water damage.

Willliams Boulevard in Kenner is flooded north of I-10 to just before the lake levee, officials said.

(I'm sorry, I know this stuff isn't of interest to most people in the thread.)

Dana, that's not true. Please don't think that.