While not destroyed to the point of no return (though this could be debated), New Orleans seems to be at the very least out of service for the next year. The mayor said that 80% of the city was flooded (last night and that's before the CBD flooded). It's tough to guesstimate, but I think it's pretty safe to assume that at least 50% of the homes are flooded. Not necessarily destroyed, but due to the extensive repairs required and the dire health hazard, people will not be able to live in many of these homes that have sat in water for the period that these homes will end up sitting. If I'm not mistaken that's likely close to 750,000 homeless (and likely jobless). Just in N.O. add in those in MS, Alabama, and elsewhere in LA and you have an astronomical figure. There is no way to house all of these folks. I saw what they did after Charley in regards to the "trailer city." You cannot build a trailer city for one million people. Add in the environmental hazards the area is facing... oil and gas all over the water... bug breeding grounds... lack of water (ironically enough).... close quarters for survivors... fires... floating dead... wild animals... and looting.

I still don't think people truly understand what is happening here, especially thanks to the erroneous early reports of a "spared city." This morning one of the major networks was discussing the dolphins in the pool in MS and then proceeded to joke around for a few minutes about dolphins killing sharks. How utterly inappropriate. Would such a glib attitude have been taken on September 11th? This is most likely the worst natural disaster (and it can be argued that it is the worst disaster, not just natural) of our time, at least since the San Francisco earthquake/fire. I hope people wake up to this fact, but more importantly I hope that the lives of those so irrevocably affected by this catastrophe are SOMEHOW able to recover.