My family is down there as well. They loaded up all 4 of their cars with everything they could take and got out of the city around 11 a.m. By 1 p.m. they had reached Slidell, heading for family in Birmingham. Traffic was moving at 35 mph. Hopefully, they've gotten there by now. We haven't been able to get through to their cell phones.
Well, it's dark and raining in NO now. The peak is still some hours away. I am sure they got a good enough start on it and are out of danger. There might not be much to come back to, but you can bet FedGov will cover much of the losses. It's going to be a year to remember for sure.