Despair in the 9th Ward
New Orleans, 9th Ward, 2:30 p.m.
Times-Picayune photographer Ted Jackson waded into the Lower 9th Ward Monday afternoon and reported a scene of utter destruction. The wind still howled, floodwaters covered vehicles in the street and people were clinging to porches and waiting in attics for rescuers who had yet to arrive.
In one home on Claiborne Avenue near the Industrial Canal bridge, Jackson saw a man peering from a window in his attic. The man said rising water in his house had forced him, his wife and two children into the attic.
Jackson estimated the water's depth at 12 feet.
"He was very calm,'' Jackson said of the man in the attic window.
Jackson said he couldn't get across the street. The water was too deep and the current was too fast.
Nearby, three children and three adults were clinging to a porch, trying to stay above the water, which they insisted was continuing to rise.
"They were really scared. They said they had been clinging to that porch since 8 a.m.''
Lord, I hope that's out-flowing and not in-flowing.