I believe it was 1000 times worse than they imagined would happen. I would have to agree. Again. From what I saw last night CNN's coverage was superior, they did not downplay the fact that NO is an unmitigated disaster area.
Did you hear the CNN reporter lady who had tears in her throat as she was telling of how they couldn't get to people after dark, they could hear people yelling for help, the rescuers couldn't get to anyone, no one could do anything because of the debris in the water, cars beneath the surface, power and gas lines etc.
She said people didn't realie how bad this was and everyone was going to be shocked tomorrow (today)
Jeanne Mezeene I think was her name.
It had me in tears. She was genuinly upset and very shaken.
Seeing the wind and storm surge damage in Mississippi, I'm having a hard time buying the downgrade of Katrina to a CAT 3, 125 mph sustained winds at the final landfall. I think it will turn out like Andrew - analysis of the damage will support higher wind speeds. The relative weakening on the western side of the storm seems not to have had much effect on the east side at all. Maybe it wasn't CAT 5 any more, but I'll bet the east side was still well into the strong CAT 4 range at landfall.