[George W. Bush]

So, I'm curious. What do you think the death toll from this disaster will be, based on what you know now? I'll take a range.

400-1500 as a wild guess. But you understand, it's just a guess. I'm not reporting it as a fact. And I don't believe the number will be in the 'thousands' this thread initially claimed.

[lugsoul]

I hope you are right.

But -

Officials from a single county in MS are making statements indicating that they already think 200 to 300 is a reasonable expectation for the toll in their county.

40,000 homes in St. Bernard Parish were flooded to the rooftops.

The lower half of Plaquemines Parish no longer exists.

More than 3000 people have been plucked from rooftops in NO. And rescuers have consistently reported cries for help from other homes.

Large swaths of St. Tammany parish are destroyed. I know you saw the officer in Slidell - standing on dry ground. Well, we know now that the western side of Slidell faired relatively well. We also know that downtown Slidell is underwater, and large subdivisions were completely destroyed.

Bay St. Louis is largely destroyed. Same with Waveland. Same with Pass Christian.

And MFH's post is not the first report I've heard of bodies in trees.

The upshot of all this, IMHO, is that you seem to be going out of your way to challenge the specifics of MFH's post, but acknowledge yourself, in a guess, that we could have 1500 dead. There is no more reporting to support that guess than there is to support a contention of 'thousands' being dead. But, nonetheless, you view it as a reasonable guess. Why wouldn't 2500 be a reasonable guess? Or 3500?

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Hi, GWB. I'm missed seeing your posts. How've you been?

While I hope and pray your estimates are reality, I fear the loss of life from this flooding looks to be much worse than 1,500 casualties.

The despair in Haley Barbour's voice was haunting.