Margie, my prayers for your family..

Shepard Smith made an excellent point just now on Fox News... After Andrew left Miami, the original reports said.. well, not bad... we're fine... UNTIL there was air surveillance... then a striking and terrible picture emerged.. The basic reality is: reporters are only seeing specific points.. the places where they are located... no one will know, for certain, until after the weather clears, the exact who/what/when/where...

Mississippi has taken quite a hit, as far as I can tell.. Biloxi and Gulfport especially. I have also heard talk about a town called Waveland, which was destroyed in Camille.. and may have suffered catastrophic damage today. There are many, many places that aren't covered by news media, and we will not know the true toll of Katrina until later in the week and weeks ahead.

NO ONE who was "missed" by this monster should complain.. they should thank whoever they believe in for their good luck... It should always be kept in mind that for every place that was "missed", another was hit.. For everyone who is able to go back to their home, someone does not have a home to go to..

I am sitting here in front of my bedroom window in Tallahassee, watching clouds pushed by winds briefly darken my view and the trees sway and bind in the gusts... and I am VERY, VERY FAR away from the height of the storm...

There is and will be more to this storm than meets the eye now... My prayers to all...

ALERT: Just north of the French Quarter there is a rescue operation going on... people clinging to telephone poles... what a nightmare..