I didn’t realize that the fantastic Susannah Breslin had moved to New Orleans, but I’m thankful to learn from Xeni Jardin that she’s safe. As suggested here repeatedly, donating to the Red Cross is among the best things you can do right now to help out.

At the present time, the French Quarter is battered but not broken. But as Rory notes, one of BT’s friend has reported that a levee has burst and water from Lake Pontchartrain is causing the flooding to rise. With the machinery to pump out this water now out of commission, it appears that what we all feared is now, in fact, happening. CNN reports that 80% of the city is flooded and some areas are now under 20 feet of water — much higher than the initial Katrina strike. Not good at all.

[UPDATE: Kathryn Cramer has several before-and-after photos up.]

So all things considered, it turned out much better than projected. Katrina is now a Category 3 storm. New Orleans will survive. The loss of life appears to be minimal. There are floods, corrupted water mains and reconstruction will be a bitch and a half (and then some). But New Orleans will survive in some form. And this is the important thing.

With this in mind, we return to the quotidian, our hearts extended to a beautiful city and its population. We never got a chance to visit but we will someday.

Current report from Jon Donley: “Dispatchers questioning officers on the scene, trying to determine if there is a break in the river levee, or if water is pouring over the top. Independently, NOLA has received a flooding alert for the French Market area. Fairly heavy street flooding in front and behind the Times-Picayune . . . water appears about knee deep, whipped by the steady wind into whitecaps and breakers. Water is hubcap deep on the furthest vehicles in the employee parking lot, and rising quickly.”