[BillCompton]

Consider the storm surge was estimated to be 26' people would have to run up three flights of stairs to get away, fighting a current.

I don't think this was really like that. On the worse side, there was howling wind outside that would make anything difficult. But the storm surge does not come in like a tsunami. It gradually comes in over several hours. The video makes the movement barely discernable, but there are waves that crash about. People have a way of surviving. Call me Polly Anna, but I think you will find the death toll in NO will be pretty low. But I do think the death toll in MS will be pretty bad (several hundred.) But, what the heck do I know. That is my current prediction.

[olde north church]

If I'm not mistaken, the surge is more comparable to a fast-rising of water up not a horizontal effect like a wave. LIke the Bay of Fundy where the tide has a variance of about 50 ft between high and low tides. Tourists can get caught and wind up as casualties.