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Live From...

Katrina Rips Across Gulf Coast

Aired August 29, 2005 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it came, it saw, and it's still conquering. Katrina's lethal spiral snarls across the Gulf and slams into shores. Centuries of proud history, years of hard work, blown literally out of the window, or buried in avalanches of debris. Now in the case of New Orleans' massive Superdome, the refuge of thousands of people, the covering on the roof shreds as if it were aluminum foil.
And the worst to come in some areas, in some areas, extensive and life threatening storm surge flooding occurring along the Louisiana and Mississippi coast.

In metro New Orleans total structural failure reported in some areas as water crossed levies and pumps are giving up to the ghosts.

Well, these aquarium dolphins were moved inland from the coast to a hotel pool last night in Gulf Port, Mississippi. But, with up to 10 feet of water now flooding downtown Gulf Port, the current status is unknown. It is, indeed, to quote our Gary Tuchman, "hell on earth" right now.

Well, hurricane conditions continue to prevail over a large swath of the Gulf Coast region. Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama have all been battling extreme high winds, driving rain and rising water.

CNN's correspondents are filing reports from all over hurricane country. We'll bring them to you throughout the day.

Well, Hurricane Katrina pounded the Alabama coast with huge waves and tree bending winds. Part of Mobile -- or part of Mobile flooded after the water topped the levies along Mobile Bay and spilled into downtown.

CNN's Kathleen Koch is surveying the damage right now. And I believe, if we've got a connection to you, we're looking at these live pictures, Kathleen, via our affiliate, WKRG. What exactly can you tell us?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, I can't see the pictures that you're seeing, but what I can tell you is that most of the major streets in the downtown area of Mobile are flooded. There are also dozens and dozens of streets in the city of Mobile. And then, in the surrounding Mobile county area, they're simply impassible because of the trees that are down, because of the power lines that are down. Obviously, lots and lots of power outages.

Now, the Mobile Emergency Management Agency has urged people to just stay off the streets, to please hunker down in your homes if you have not evacuated. Where we are right now in downtown Mobile, this area, people were urged to evacuate. It was not required. Some 128,000 residents, they were strongly advised to leave.

Now, in areas further to the south of here that were along the water, some 56,000 people faced mandatory evacuations. And those people had actual, you know, National Guardsmen, had police officers coming to their doors here and knocking and saying, "Get out." And if they wouldn't get out, they were writing down the names of their next of kin.

Now, we've been told that as the conditions here have been worsening, the police and the fire department had to draw the line. They've been getting calls from people, saying, "Please help us; now we want to evacuate." And they're saying, "We simply can't do that. We'll do it when we can if it's a true emergency." But they don't want to risk the lives of the officers who are out there really doing their best.

The winds, as far as we know, the top winds that have been clocked in this area were in the mid 70s, 75 miles an hour roughly. And that was at Mobile airport an hour or so ago.

But right now we're seeing a lot of debris, lots of tree limbs in the streets. I wish we could get a shot down the road, but we can't get our camera out in these winds. But you see cars that are just dodging and bobbing back forth, weaving down what is a major street in Mobile that's become almost impassible because of the limbs down. It blocked off one of the major tunnels that goes across the Mobile River so residents can't use that tunnel. But again, those residents really shouldn't be out here in this.

I do think people take that advice. There are a lot of people in shelters, about 2,700 people in the 11 shelters here in Mobile County area. Throughout the state, they've got shelters open.

But officials are a little worried they're not entirely full. Usually those shelters would be packed to the gills. So they're not sure if they took take comfort and believe that people actually evacuated and got out of the way of the Hurricane Katrina or if people have hurricane fatigue and decided to ride it out at home, which depending on how low-lying their home is, could have been a very bad decision -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Kathleen Koch. As we continue to watch the live pictures from here. Kathleen, we'll come back and talk to you more. I know that you grew up, lived in this area. So did I. And I'm actually, as I look at these pictures, I'm recognizing some schools and business areas, even, where I used to live. We'll come back and talk some more as you get more information there.

KOCH: We could compare notes, too.

PHILLIPS: What's that, Kathleen?

KOCH: All right. I said let's compare notes. Where did you live, Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Actually, I lived off -- you know where the Skyway Country Club is? Not far down the road, down in Lansdowne (ph) subdivision. Kind of an older subdivision.

We weren't so much in a low-lying area, but I remember our home, years -- I mean, we're going back, you know, 20 years now. We lost our roof; we lost our backyard. We had horrible wind damage.

But now we're looking at the live shot from the bridge there over in Mobile Bay. And I know that's not far from where the USS Alabama is. And I even remember some people seeking refuge on that ship, Kathleen. I don't know if you remember that. I mean, we're going back quite a long time now.

KOCH: Kyra, I was from the other side of the coast, the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. We moved there a couple of years after Camille so we missed the big storm, but very interesting because I went to middle school and to high school with kids who rode out that storm in their homes in the tiny town of Bay St. Louis.

And you know, over the years, Kyra, they've had such bravado. They would never evacuate. If they lived through Camille, they said they could live through anything. Well, I will tell you what: they have evacuated in the face of Katrina. They've left homes in New Orleans, in Long Beach, in Bay St. Louis. And this gives you pause when people who have lived through the worst of it say, "Now we're ready to get out."

PHILLIPS: That's a point well made. I don't ever remember evacuations like this, living in Mobile and New Orleans.

Kathleen Koch, we'll continue to check in with you. Thank you so much.

Rob Marciano now working the Mississippi area. Actually, the last time we saw him he was in Biloxi. You know we've seen some of the worst damage from Hurricane Katrina in that area.

Rob Marciano, where are you now? You've been in the thick of it, of course, all day. Has it gotten any better? Give us a feel for what it's like right now outside/inside.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, even though the eye has passed, I assume to our west, the southeastern corner of this storm is just pounding us right now. Winds have switched to the south and they're as steady and as ferocious as they've been all day, if not stronger.

This hotel we're staying in has stucco siding and it's literally being torn apart on the southern and eastern flank. I'm right now looking at a window that has been blown out. The hallway is peppered with insulation foam and sheetrock. Rooms on the southern end of the -- of the hotel have seen their roof and ceilings collapse and water absolutely pouring in. So it's a sight like I've never seen before, an established engineered structure being torn apart slowly, but surely, by this ferocious south wind.

The rains have been torrential, obviously. You get that in any sort of tropical system. We've probably seen 10 to 15 inches of rain in the last 10 to 12 hours. All that rainfall has piled up in some of the low-lying areas. And we have virtual seas and oceans, oceans that have piled up.

And the south winds that are blowing that water. We have, like, we have a surf that is six miles inland, just from the rain water that's come down. It's unlike anything I've ever seen.

Chad Myers, a colleague and meteorologist in the CNN Weather Center, how strong do you think are the winds right now? They're south. I assume the center of this thing is just to the west and north? Tell me what's going on.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You're right on it, Rob. Exactly. To the west into parts of Mississippi. Meridian, you're about to get the worst of the northern part of the eye wall. And Rob, now you have the western part of the eastern eye wall. I'll get to that in a second.

We'll show you what's going on here on the radar map. From New Orleans now right on back this big red box you see here, that might be in the way to see your area, that's a tornado watch box. If you're in this area, you are in a tornado watch.

Now I'll get back down to right where Rob is. Here is the road that goes down to Biloxi. Rob is actually right about that point, about Ocean Springs right there. And this is that band, that way outside feeder band from the inside. Here's the big inside band. Here's the eye of the storm right here. It's much worse right here. And also to the north of the eye than what you see here.

But obviously, Rob, he thinks that this is the worst he's had all day, and that means that this is not getting much smaller as it moves on land. In fact, the winds are still 105, 115 miles per hour in some gusts. So this clearly, as it moves up into parts of Mississippi and Alabama not done yet, and it won't be done until the eye gets up well on up into Tennessee.

Hurricane warnings all the way up through Alabama, all the way even from about 6 p.m. tonight onward, still have the hurricane.

Here are your winds now. Winds are 105, Category 2. And if you're keeping track, 30.8, 89.6. The storm now just to the north and east by about 60 miles of New Orleans. New Orleans is getting better for you, because the storm is moving away. It's been moving closer all day until about three hours ago. Then it moves up just to the east of Memphis and then finally all the way up even into the Indiana- Ohio state line by late tomorrow night -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Chad, thank you so much. Well, one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina, of course, is Gulf Port, Mississippi. Our national correspondent, Gary Tuchman, says massive that flooding there has turned the city into, basically, hell on earth. He joins us now by phone. We can't even get a live signal with him anymore.

Gary, have things taken a turn for the worse from the last time we talked and saw those pictures of you?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Kyra. And actually, I would say conditions now are a bit better than they were in the last couple of hours, but it's still very treacherous outside.

And one of the reasons we can't bring you the live pictures is because we were rather unlucky twice. We were in our van, covering the hurricane, driving around in it for a little while in the very beginning because we were able to show live pictures while we were driving with the vehicle that we call Hurricane One, which uses special satellite technology.

And it got too dangerous to drive. We then stopped in our vehicle near the hotel, and the sign from the hotel went through our window, so we were about to call it a day.

And just before we were about to call it a day with the vehicle, a 12x8 foot portion of wooden fence flew from a nearby property and landed on top of our vehicle. And it appears to have totaled the vehicle, smashed in the back end and broke all the windows. So at that point we made what some might call a wise decision to go inside the hotel and kind of look out the window right now.

But I can tell you, in this city of population 71,000, we have a situation where water 10 to 12 feet deep on the beach road along the Gulf of Mexico. That's U.S. 90.

We were down there this morning. There was water starting to gather on the road. We did a couple of live reports from there. We saw the water coming up quickly. We left. We went back. And then we saw it about five feet deep, and we left once again and then we were told by police 10 to 12 feet deep.

And we saw boats actually floating through the streets. At least three while we were there, perhaps more now.

But there's a tremendous amount of damage here in Gulf Port. People here experienced Hurricane Camille, in 1969, a Category 5. For the second time in 36 years, a major hurricane has come through here.

And when this all ends, and the wind is still blowing very hard, gusts of up to a hundred miles per hour. It's not as consistent as before, but when they go outside, they're going to see a city that in many ways has been ruined.

Back to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Gary, I don't know if you've received word about those on the military side, possibly on stand-by or getting ready to respond. But I remember the last time Gulf Port got hit, there's a large contingent of Navy Seabees in that area. They came in and helped with the rebuilding efforts and a lot of the rescue efforts before, during, and after. Do you know -- the last I heard they didn't even have power where they are. Do you know if they have been able to deploy or are they preparing to respond once this moves through the area?

TUCHMAN: They've been told by emergency officials that nobody has deployed here, and it's still too dangerous to go outside. So no military whatsoever. And there are widespread power outages. Power has been out here for about five hours. We haven't seen any power on in any parts of the city right now. So it's just too premature. It's just too dangerous even if they're able to go out right now.

PHILLIPS: All right. Our Gary Tuchman. I'm sure glad you're inside right now. Gary Tuchman there in Gulf Port, Mississippi. We'll continue to check in with you.

Meanwhile -- OK, I'm just being told that the president of the United States, speaking, actually, on Social Security today just made comments about the hurricane. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know -- I know my fellow citizens here in Arizona and across the country are saying our prayers for those affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Our Gulf Coast is getting hit and hit hard. I want the folks there on the Gulf Coast to know that the federal government is prepared to help you when the storm passes.

I want to thank the governors of the affected regions for mobilizing assets prior to the arrival of the storm to help citizens avoid this devastating storm.

I urge the citizens there in the region to continue to listen to the local authorities. Don't abandon your shelters until you're given clearance by the local authorities. Take precautions, because this is a dangerous storm. When the storm passes, the federal government has got assets and resources that will be deploying to help you.

In the meantime, America will pray. Pray for the health and safety of all our citizens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The president of the United States, once again. He's in El Mirage, Arizona. He was talking about Social Security to constituents there, taking a moment to comment on the hurricane.

Of course, a number of areas declared disaster areas. We'll be following the response from federal and state levels, of course.

Now we continue to check in with our reporters all across the area that this hurricane is affecting. Here are some pictures now from downtown New Orleans that came in just a few minutes ago. Just listen to the wind.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is how difficult it is covering the hurricane. We're coming out of the hotel, and this is the Motor Lobby here.

I'm going to cross -- I'm just looking to make sure we're not going to get whacked in the head with anything. We're making our way over here. Come on. Let's go this way. Come on. Let's go this way.

This buddy is from "The New York Times." He's never been to a storm before. Whoa! What was that? All right. Here we go. Let's see if we can get to the crevice. This is where we're going to take refuge to try to shoot some tape. The winds are really kicking. Come on in.

All right. Let's catch our breath for a second. That is what it's like just to get out the front door of the hotel.

Now, I don't know if you can see it, but in the middle of Canal Street, there's a tree that's down. I'm going to try to head out towards that mailbox right there and get a glimpse of what I can see, all right? Kevin, if you see something coming for me, just scream for me, all right? All right.

I'm going to crouch down and use this as cover. This is what it's like in downtown New Orleans right now. It is just after 8:20 in the morning Eastern Time and stuff is flying down the street. These are the hurricane force winds.

All right, that's it, guys. I'm going to come back in. See? It's flying. We're going to let it go. All right.

Reporting from the hurricane, in New Orleans, come on, let's go for cover! Geez. Well, along with photographer Kevin Martels (ph), we're going to go inside now.

I'm Brian Andrews for CBS 4.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: It's just amazing what the reporters will do to cover the damage and even with the activity of what's taking place in Hurricane Katrina. That was Brian Andrews from our affiliate WFOR in New Orleans. Basically shows the dangers of the job, as you know. Pretty dramatic video there as he put that for us on tape not long ago.

Chad, now, Myers, telling us some tornado warnings. Is that right, Chad, coming in?

MYERS: We talked about the tornado watch earlier, Kyra. And there are going to be a number of tornado warnings. In fact, there might be a hundred today. It's going to be impossible to keep up with them all.

But Lauderdale County in east central Mississippi, Central Barber County in southeastern Alabama, Scott and Newton County in Mississippi. And this is the one that I find the most concerning. Baldwin, Escambia, and Santa Rosa County in northwest Florida. That's just to the west of Pensacola. That cell right there.

Here's the problem with this one. The weather service saying that this storm is moving north at 90 miles per hour. How do you get out of the way of that? If you see a big cell coming to you, you take precautions. Make sure the kids are inside.

You can see where these storms are popping all: across the way across Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. Don't take chances now. This is now turning into a tornado maker -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Wow. All right, Chad. We'll continue to check in with you.

I'm being told now we have someone who's actually hunkered down in New Orleans. There actually are a number of people that are staying in New Orleans: business folks, those in education. A number of people that just didn't want to leave, although that is extremely unusual, considering that the mayor wanted everybody out of there less than 24 hours ago.

Robert Thornton is a business man in New Orleans. And I believe -- Robert, can you hear me OK? We have you by phone?

ROBERT THORNTON, NEW ORLEANS BUSINESS MAN: Yes, ma'am.

PHILLIPS: Why don't you tell me where you are, Robert? And tell me why you decided to stay.

THORNTON: Well, I decided to stay, because I was born and raised down here. And I've been through many of storms, but never none of this multitude. I'm just amazed on how the weather is so, so powerful and strong. It's just -- I mean, I'm just glad that so far, no tragedy have happened.

But I am in my apartment complex where I reside. And there's a lot of roofs and stuff that's torn off and just, you know, just messed up debris and just, I mean, it's just wicked right now.

PHILLIPS: Where is your apartment complex, Robert?

THORNTON: It's called Middlewood (ph) Apartment Homes, ma'am. That's located in New Orleans, Louisiana, 70114.

PHILLIPS: Where exactly in New Orleans? Give it -- I mean, we know -- I used to live there. Maybe I can kind of picture the area. Are you more downtown? Are you near Lake Pontchartrain? Tell me where you are.

THORNTON: Actually, ma'am, I am on the west side, on the west bank. PHILLIPS: You're over on the west bank?

THORNTON: Yes. Yes.

PHILLIPS: So what are you able to see right now outside your apartment complex? You could probably see out into -- into the water?

THORNTON: Yes, ma'am. I could just see just a lot of roofs and stuff that's actually on the ground. I can see actual air- conditioning units that we had, actually on top of apartments. They are thrown all around.

So I mean, it's just really, really dangerous right now. And I would advise anybody to stay put until further notice or until that the weather totally, totally calms down.

PHILLIPS: How many people stay in your apartment complex? Do you know, Robert?

THORNTON: If I'm correct, ma'am, it will be, like, 245 at the most.

PHILLIPS: So did everybody stay or did a lot of people in your complex take off?

THORNTON: A lot of people that took off but there are a few -- a few did -- had decided to stay.

PHILLIPS: Now, you brought up a really good point. You've lived there your whole life. I lived there and was able to make it through Opal, which of course, wasn't nearly as bad as what we're seeing right now. How would you compare this? What would you say was the worst storm, the worst hurricane you endured until today?

THORNTON: Well, I mean, I've been through, like, a lot of high winds but, to be honest, ma'am, nothing I've been through so far in my life compares to what I'm going through now. I mean, I actually -- and I'm a strong fellow. I was actually scared, but my -- with my scariness (AUDIO GAP) to the side and, you know, my stronger head stepped in. And I just have to do what I have to do to make sure people are all right around here. I mean, hey.

PHILLIPS: You say you're a strong man. You're looking after those that are staying there in the apartment complex. Just don't go outside, Robert Thornton. We sure appreciate you calling in, giving us a feel for what the conditions are like there on the west bank just outside of New Orleans, Louisiana there.

As you're watching pictures now coming in via our affiliate WWL. This is New Orleans, Louisiana. What you're seeing is Hurricane Katrina and what it's doing to this area.

Our rolling coverage continues of this hurricane right after a quick break.

ANNOUNCER: Keep watching CNN, your hurricane headquarters. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: You're watching rolling coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Right now we want to take you straight to the governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour, addressing reporters right now about the conditions there. I'm told he just said storm surges in excess of 20 feet. Let's listen in to the governor.

GOV. HALEY BARBOUR (R), MISSISSIPPI: ... but we don't know. The other thing about the storm surges is why you can't assess property damage now, because a lot of it is going to be done.

PHILLIPS: Well, that comes with hurricane coverage, folks. Live signals from Mississippi to New Orleans to the Gulf Port area there. We've had issues trying to keep our signal alive and well. But I'm told we have reconnected with the governor of Mississippi.

BARBOUR: ... what kind of casualties we have and we see what kind of property damage is done. But nobody knows the answer to that question right now. There is a storm like (AUDIO GAP) the winds, you know, we -- mercifully, the winds died down last night from 175 to 150. But at that time it did that, the same weather pattern had chipped a little bit off the storm and knocked it east, and so it came in on Mississippi like a ton of bricks. It's a terrible storm. Whether it will turn out to be worse than Camille, lord, I hope not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is your worst fear?

BARBOUR: That there are a lot of dead people down there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor, does it frustrate you that the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) county put search and rescue teams in there to put good people into harm's way to rescue people that just didn't heed the call?

BARBOUR: Look, I'm not going to be critical of people that didn't heed the call. But they have to understand and everybody has to understand that we cannot take National Guardsmen and Wildlife and Fisheries conservation officers and deputy sheriffs and police officers to send them out in 130 mile an hour winds to try to rescue anybody, regardless of the reason that that person is in need of rescue.

I'm not going to be critical of people. I will simply observe that what we begged for was for people to get out of the way. The only way to really protect yourself was to evacuate. And I wish every person had done that, and I hope everybody that didn't is going to be OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor (UNINTELLIGIBLE) what do you see the impact significantly (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

BARBOUR: Well, I'm more worried right now about life and limb and the immediate help for the people who are down there. We do know that many of the casinos having water in them. We have reports of some of the casinos having water in the second or third floors. We don't know if that was because of the storm surge or wave action.

But we don't have any structural damage reports. And we are unaware that any of the casino floors themselves, which as you know, were on barges, we are unaware that any of those has broken loose and caused any mayhem. But -- we don't know, but we don't have any reports of that.

We know we're going to have a lot of structural damage to a lot of different buildings down there, and certainly casinos will be among that, but we don't know of any catastrophic damage to any of them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

BARBOUR: The question is do I have any estimate of what the cost of damage is. It's higher than I can count. But I can't be much more specific than that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Question for the general. I know the eye of the storm situation has (UNINTELLIGIBLE) are you going to be able to get your troops deployed? Are you worried about that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do have our troops there. They are in barracks. They're very strong secure barracks. I was there just a few minutes ago, or really about an hour and a half ago. We're going to have some...

PHILLIPS: You're listening there to Governor Haley Barbour, Mississippi governor, just sort of briefing reporters on what they know so far about the -- parts of Mississippi. The governor not really saying a lot. He said that they haven't had any catastrophic damage yet. I mean, how do you define catastrophic?

We've seen these pictures via our Gary Tuchman. He basically said it was hell on earth. We saw a lot of destruction on homes and buildings. You can see the flooding. And Gary even telling us that parts of that city there in Gulf Port, Mississippi, under 10 to 12 feet of water. I mean, that could be considered catastrophic to a lot of people living in the area there.

But the governor saying that on some of those casinos there in the Gulf Port area, that some of the casinos, there is water inside those casinos. As you know, the Gulf Port, Biloxi, Mississippi, area very popular tourist area for folks to come, especially this time of year, to gamble and spend time on the beach.

A reporter did ask the governor about a dollar estimate. Did he, by chance, know what the damage could be to this point with regard to destruction in the area? He said he couldn't come up with a number but it's higher than he can count.

So we'll continue to follow up out of Mississippi through our correspondents. If the governor, indeed, continues with that news conference there. We're hearing, obviously, from National Guard leaders now. We will monitor that.

Meanwhile, Tom Foreman, who, as you know, he is a correspondent for us here at CNN.

Tom, you and I both were reporters in New Orleans, Louisiana. We have braved a number of hurricanes but definitely not one this bad. Tell me where exactly you are, and let's reminisce a little bit.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, here at FEMA, they've been talking all this morning about how you get your hands around a storm like this.

You know, Kyra, from covering storms with me years ago, one of the things about a big hurricane is when you're in it and covering it, the truth is you're often covering about 100 yards around you because the storm is impossible to pass through. Officials here at FEMA, right now, are not sending their relief crews into the field yet because of exactly what the governor was talking about, exactly what Gary Tuchman was talking about. It is unsafe for them to move right now, and they will become part of the problem if they move in.

The interesting thing is, though, when you're outside the storm and you can get these little pockets of reports from Gary Tuchman, from the fellow in New Orleans, from people in Baton Rouge, from Kathleen Koch over in Alabama, you pull all that together and that gives you an overall picture of the storm.

That's what they're trying to do here at FEMA. They had their first big teleconference a short while ago since landfall where they tried to pull together this mosaic of tiles and lay them all in and say, really, where are the problems? Where do we need resources? Because they're hoping to have trucks rolling before this day is over to the worst-hit areas. But they just have to figure out where those are.

PHILLIPS: Tom, you know we've got reporters from New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Gulfport, Biloxi, Mobile. As you're there at FEMA and trying to bring as much information to us as possible with regard to how exactly it is going to respond to the areas hardest hit and what exactly the people need, talking about New Orleans specifically, we just got these new pictures in so I want you to stay with me. And I don't know if you can see these pictures or not. But you would definitely know the area.

They're coming to us via WFOR in New Orleans. This is downtown New Orleans. And the destruction is just massive. I mean, the streets are filled with lumber and debris and metal posts and, you know, folks living in these areas are coming out and actually -- this is Brian Andrews, the reporter that is bringing us these amazing reports of when it was coming through, those hurricane winds and water and, of course, now seeing the destruction afterwards.

You look at something like this and you think, OK, how soon can you respond? I mean, these are the questions I'm sure you'll be asking those at FEMA.

FOREMAN: Sure. It's very hard to figure out when they can get in because, as you know, New Orleans is very isolated. The roads leading in there all come over water so there has to be a strong local effort coupled with whatever national effort there is.

I'll tell you what's going to be very interesting in all of this. I've only heard it come up a couple of times. Slidell, which is one of the suburbs of New Orleans, it's on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, it was a suburb back before suburbs were cool. And all the reports are that Slidell may be being hit quite hard.

Slidell has a lot of people living in it. Some of those areas, the further out you get to (INAUDIBLE) to Gulfport, there are a lot of people living in these areas as there are outside of all the cities in this country these days. Those areas are also going to be awfully important to look at because they may be harder to see even than some of the downtown areas.

But a lot of people living in them, as you know, and a lot of people who are going to need a lot of services.

So FEMA has this arc of people all around the storm. If you want to draw a line from over in Florida to make a big arc over into Texas around the stormfront, all of those people are waiting until this calms down enough so they can start pushing in and they have to pinpoint where those areas are.

And you're right. You look at something like New Orleans right now, you say, look, we've got a number of hours before it's even vaguely passable and then you may have a number of days before it is passable in a practical sense for resources getting to where they need to be, people moving around.

PHILLIPS: Tom, you mentioned Slidell. I will never forget doing live shots out of Slidell with water up to my neck afterwards. I even remember, because of the area and the lack of drainage, the lack of gutters, even the Red Cross shelter there got flooded. And people just didn't how to get out, where to go, what to do. People were traveling by boat and trying just to help the elderly. I remember the majority of people trying to respond to the elderly and the kids. That is one of the spots that always seems to get hit the hardest.

FOREMAN: Yes, absolutely. And you talk about some of the other communities that are slightly to the east and south of New Orleans: Chalmette, Arabi, St. Bernard Parish. A lot of people live down these areas. And in some of these areas, unlike New Orleans, which has an extraordinary system of levees and pumps to empty water out when water comes in, not all of these other places have that. The Gulf Coast does not have that to the degree that New Orleans has it.

So when water gets into some of these areas, people are talking about water five, six, seven miles inland, that water has nowhere to go except wherever it will naturally go. And when your rivers are overflowing and your creeks are overflowing, it just becomes a long and tedious process. And the longer that water stands around, the more damage it does to buildings and disease and it's just awful when you get into these things afterwards. Those are the areas we're going to be looking an awful lot at as this storm goes on.

PHILLIPS: Point well made. Tom Foreman there in Washington, D.C. actually out in front of FEMA telling us about how it's going to get ready to respond to places like here in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Tom, bringing up the point of levees in New Orleans. Well, in Mobile, Alabama, there are no levees. And that's an area that always seems to get hit really hard. We're going to take you to there right after the break.

Our Kathleen Koch is in downtown Mobile, Alabama where already it's feeling the flooding and the destruction from Hurricane Katrina. Stay with us. Our rolling coverage continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hurricane Katrina devastating parts of the United States. These pictures just in to us just a few minutes ago from New Orleans, Louisiana via our affiliate WFOR there in New Orleans.

Reporter Brian Andrews has been doing just some incredible live reports, tapes, stand-ups for us, showing us how the storm has come through the area. And, now, he and those at his station feeding us this videotape just -- he and his photographer just shot this a little while ago. This is exactly what Hurricane Katrina did to downtown New Orleans, Louisiana.

We saw the flooding and the winds. Of course, the flooding is still a major issue. But this is the type of destruction we're going to start to see. This is just a little bit of what has happened so far in New Orleans and throughout New Orleans. The downed trees, the downed power lines, the destruction to the homes and the buildings.

We'll continue to get you fresh video as it's fed in via our affiliates across the United States, of course, and those areas that Hurricane Katrina has been hitting thus far.

Now, another area, of course, that has been hit pretty hard, Mobile, Alabama, a place that is very used to this type of weather. A number of hurricanes going through that area.

Our Kathleen Koch joining us once again live from Mobile, Alabama. Luckily, we're able to get a signal with her via our video phone. Kathleen, I'm curious what type of evacuations, possibly a curfew that might be -- has been put forward. I'm curious yet to this point.

KOCH: Well, right now, Kyra, we just got a notice from emergency officials here in Mobile County, Mobile City. They have been hunkering down and they've reached a decision. They are just simply too many people -- curiosity-seekers out here on the streets, wanting to be in the middle of a hurricane, wanting to see what it's all about.

So they have, as of just about five minutes ago, put into effect a mandatory curfew. Now this is in effect for all of the city of Mobile, all of Mobile County. Numerous cities. And I'll read them to you so there is no question. Not only city of Mobile, but Prichard, Chickasaw, Saraland, Satsuma, Mount Vernon, Creola, Citronelle (ph), Bayou LaBatre, Dauphin Island. All unincorporated areas of Mobile County.

Now this is a curfew in effect from now until dawn tomorrow morning. Dawn, Tuesday morning. And then they say that from dust-to- dawn, every day for the foreseeable future, until otherwise notified, there will be this curfew. So they don't want anybody out on streets right now. And then when darkness falls, they want everyone to stay inside. Because again, conditions are just getting worse by the minute out here.

PHILLIPS: All right, Kathleen Koch.

KOCH: Kyra.

PHILLIPS: You're there live in Mobile, Alabama, via our video phone. We'll check in with you, as you bring us the newest developments. There, the latest in Mobile, curfew now being put forward for those that are still in the area.

Now we want to move on, just sort of looking forward. And as we follow Hurricane Katrina in the areas that it's hitting and we're seeing the destruction, we're starting to see bits and pieces of the aftermath, even as that hurricane is still churning. We're also seeing what kind of damage it's already done. Well, that means so many types of individuals are going to have to respond, from civilian to military.

And that brings in Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, commander of the second fleet with the U.S. Navy. Admiral, I appreciate you calling in very much. And the reason why I wanted to talk to you is because I know in situations like this, you get your ships ready, you get your helos ready, to bring in supplies, to bring in medical help, search and rescue situations. Tell me what you have put forward right now and what you're looking forward to with regard to deployment of certain assets.

ADMIRAL MARK FITZGERALD, CMDR. U.S. NAVY 2ND FLEET: Sure, Kyra. Good afternoon.

Today, right now, we have the USS Baton, which is an amphibious assault ship sitting off the coast of Texas, waiting for the storm to clear. It has four M853 and two H60 helicopters, which will provide heavy helicopter lift of emergency supplies in. We also have very large hospital capability, with about 600-bed hospital aboard. So we could -- we plan on bringing that up behind the storm and should be in place tomorrow morning.

We also have high-speed vessel called a Swift to provide and shuttle supplies from Texas up into the area. And the USS Arctic, which is an oiler and a resupply ship, is heading down to be on station. So they're going to be there immediately, and then we're putting other assets on alert, should we need to get them there quickly.

PHILLIPS: Now, what's interesting, Admiral, as that -- we talk so much about the Navy and the Navy's assets and what the Navy can do during Operation Iraqi freedom, during Operation Enduring Freedom. But this is truly such a huge part of the Navy's mission, and what you train for, and that is, responding to natural disasters. And the ships' capabilities are pretty incredible when it comes to where you can get into, how fast you can get there, by land and by sea, and what kind of assets you can bring in. I mean, this has got to be a different part of the job that, no doubt, you truly enjoy, because it's all about helping people that desperately need it right away.

FITZGERALD: Absolutely. If you look at the tsunami relief effort that we did last year, we just recently did efforts down in Haiti with some support down there called New Horizons. And also in the hurricanes that have hit Central America. It's something that the Navy takes pride in, being able to doing a life-saving mission.

PHILLIPS: Now, sir, tell me -- let's go into just a few more specifics. For example, the USS Baton. I know you've got great amphibious capabilities there. Go into a little bit more detail about what is basically underneath the deck of that ship and how that can help in a situation like this.

FITZGERALD: Sure. Well, we talked about the medical capability. We also have a very large storage capability and the ability to launch small boats out the back end of the ship. So both the helicopter support from above deck and then those small boats going in there can provide an awful lot of relief. And we also have, obviously, a lot of medical supplies, you know, frozen blood, that kind of thing that can -- you know, can provide some of that life-saving relief that may be needed after this storm passes.

PHILLIPS: And you mentioned the tsunami and how you got involved with that. And, we, of course, covered those relief efforts. But here back here in the United States, what do you remember -- when's the last time you remember being involved in this type of effort? Because, obviously, we've been talking about this is the worst to hit in decades. What do you remember, with regard to the Navy and how you were able to help in years past?

FITZGERALD: Sure. Well, we've -- we typically, any time there is a hurricane coming, we do put ships on alert. I believe some of the storms that have gone through the Carolinas, we've provided support for in the past few years. But it's a normal occurrence to put ships on alert. It's not as normal to actually have to go in there and help out. It -- I think this is a unique situation with the size of this storm.

PHILLIPS: Well, we'll be following your efforts. Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, commander of the second fleet there with the U.S. Navy. Sir, thank you so much for your time.

FITZGERALD: Yes, sir. Thanks a lot, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: My pleasure.

I'm being told that we're getting new video in now from New Orleans, Louisiana, once again. These pictures -- do we know what affiliate is bringing us -- here we go, WWL bringing us these pictures. WWL bringing them into us. And I'll try and make out where exactly this is in New Orleans, Louisiana. Downtown, I'm being told. Getting a lot of fresh video in from downtown.

And if you haven't been -- if you've never been to New Orleans -- say that again, Jen (ph)? OK. I'm told -- OK. I'll get to her in just a second here, as I just kind of establish these pictures of downtown, where a lot of businesses are. Courthouses, the federal building, of course, down here. A lot of restaurants. A very busy area for New Orleans. Some areas, as you know, downtowns aren't as active, but in New Orleans, it's definitely a heavy district for businesses and work for individuals that live there in New Orleans. And it's pretty amazing when you look at these pictures just to see nobody -- literally a ghost town right now.

Now, not far from where you're seeing that videotape there in downtown New Orleans, is the Superdome, of course. And that has been a refuge for thousands of individuals there that were not able to get out of New Orleans when the mayor came forward and said that everybody needed to leave.

Our Jeanne Meserve now coming to us from video phone -- via video phone there outside the Superdome. How are things there, Jeanne? Can you give us a feel for how people are doing?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, people appear to be doing pretty well in this vicinity, because they're starting to appear out on the streets. We have some people coming out to look around and see the sights. We still have some rain, we still have some wind, but this is picnic weather next to what we had earlier.

We're going to pan over, I think, and show you some of the high- rise buildings here, so you can get a sample of some of the damage that was done. The Hyatt Hotel that we can see seems to have been particularly hard-hit. If you look at the windows on the corner, you can see that a number of them on the upper floors have been blown right out. And from different vantage points, you can see the other side of the building. Again, lots of draperies floating outside.

The sky is full of clouds, skidding along, but it has gotten noticeably lighter here in the last little bit. And when we look down instead of up, we can see that the water in this area, at least, is receding. It never was terrifically deep. I think maybe a foot at the highest point. But it's definitely gone down and, in fact, we've seen some cars, both police cars and other apparent civilian cars, making their way through the waterway. We even saw a guy with a bicycle trying to ride through the water.

So definitely, in terms of the weather, coming back to some normalcy here in New Orleans. It is a mess. There is debris everywhere. When I look down into that water down there, it is just filthy, but with stuff that came off the buildings. We had roof portions coming off, as well as draperies and Venetian blinds and a whole host of papers. So they've got a big clean-up job in New Orleans.

I can't say that from this viewpoint, I can detect any serious structural damage on any of these buildings, but I'm no structural engineer. It may, in fact, be there. But that's the update here -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jeanne, what -- how many people do you think are inside the Superdome? How many people do you think went there? And did they do what the mayor said?

I mean, yesterday, he said, bring food and clothes and enough supplies, medicine to survive three to five days. Did people pay attention to that? Did you think it was pretty organized? Can you give us a feel just for, you know, how it's been and how it is for those individuals inside?

MESERVE: Kyra, I wish I could, but we have not been inside. I saw the same pictures you did of people lining up yesterday to go inside. There were thousands upon thousands of them. I don't have the final tally on how many finally went in. I know they were processing them slowly because they were searching them to make sure there were no weapons, drugs, or things of that sort on them before they went in.

You know, we heard that it got wet in there and we could see from where we are that that outer membrane of the Superdome, that white roof that you see on the photographs is now gone. It is no more. But we couldn't see any holes from here and neither did we see any evacuation here, any movement of people out of that building. It could have been taking place on the other side or in some interior fashion, but we couldn't see it from where we were -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So basically the good news, Jeanne, is that things are calming down? Is that the gist I'm getting from your live report, right?

MESERVE: Things very definitely calming down in terms of the weather, and from what I can see here, this city did not come in for the bruising that it really was expecting 24 hours.

PHILLIPS: That's great news. Jeanne Meserve, live from New Orleans, Louisiana. Thank you so much, Jean.

And punishing winds and rain from Katrina did tear off a part of the Louisiana Superdome where 10,000 people, as we told you, were riding out that storm inside that stadium. It's the most solid of the city's 10 shelters, believe it or not. The Superdome is the world's largest steel-constructed room obstructed by posts. It's enormous, especially if you've been inside there to see some type of sporting event.

The dome covers 9.7 acres, it's 273 feet high. It has 102 restrooms which breaks down to about 100 people per restroom. And as you heard, as we look at this picture now of the Superdome, Jeanne Meserve telling us that it looks like everything went pretty well with regard to those that went there for shelter and no major problems to report from there.

As Jeanne said, it looks like this city didn't take as bad as a beating as everybody thought.

We're going to have more Hurricane Katrina coverage right after a quick break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Outer bands of Hurricane Katrina pounding Mobile, Alabama, an area that's used to getting weather like this. We want to take you straight downtown to Mobile, Alabama where Kimberly Curth of WKRG is standing by to give us a bit of an update of what she knows with regard to devastation and how people are doing right now.

Kimberly, what can you tell us?

KIMBERLY CURTH, WKRG CORRESPONDENT: We're in a parking lot right off Airport Boulevard, right before you get to Azalea Road. And we wanted to show you some of the damage that this storm is causing here in Mobile.

It's not looking good, guys. This is a business right here you see in front of me. And if you'll notice there, an entire billboard sign has gone crashing through the building. That billboard sign has been completely uprooted. There are downed power lines there. I don't know if you can see the front of this business here. But we're driving by. The entire front has been shattered out. There is glass everywhere.

Guys, this storm is causing a significant amount of damage in Mobile. In fact, you might have just seen my hat blow off. We're still getting a lot of wind out here.

Down here on Airport Boulevard, I don't know if you can see this, but there is a lot of trees that are down. We're seeing downed power lines. There's some street signs blowing everywhere. In fact, we're probably going to have to turn around and go back inside because it is just too dangerous to be out here.

So if you can stay inside, you want to stay inside.

PHILLIPS: Thanks to Kimberly Curth there via our affiliate WKRG in Mobile, Alabama. Just a quick hit there as she, obviously, is dealing with the elements and technical issues, too.

We've been getting Katrina-related photos and video from a lot of you. We like to call you our citizen journalists, actually, and we welcome your submissions, of course. But please don't put yourself in harm's way. But we do appreciate what you've brought us so far.

Let's take a look at some of those photos. One of our viewers just sent us these pictures taken by, I guess, the individual's brother inside the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. That's where a lot of people, thousands of people were taking refuge.

First Lieutenant Bert Sausse is with the Air National Guard inside the dome there. He took these pictures showing the missing section of the roof as we told you, the storm took off part of the Superdome's roof. Sausse used his cellphone camera to take the pictures so the lighting is pretty poor. We apologize for that, but we sure appreciate his efforts. This is one of our first looks inside at the damage of the dome.

Now, Katrina is having an impact far beyond Louisiana as you know. This picture of the Dan Russell Pier in Panama City Beach was taken by Keena Baker. Keena points out that the pier is still showing damage from Hurricane Dennis, believe it or not.

Now, if you live in an area impacted by Hurricane Katrina, e-mail us your photos. You can do that by logging on to CNN.com/stories. Please include your name, location and your phone number.

Well, crude oil prices are spiking as the hurricane batters oil production facilities in and around the Gulf of Mexico. Kathleen Hays has that report now live from the New York Stock Exchange.

Kathleen, a lot of my friends there in New Orleans telling me they're used to seeing those oil barges coming through all throughout the day. Obviously, this is definitely going to take a hit -- the industry.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

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