Gustav on the Louisiana Coast

11:15 Update: Gustav continues to hammer the Louisiana coast at this hour with the surge moving inland. Over 10 feet of water at least is moving inland. According to CNN water is beginning to breach the levees in the lower ninth ward once again. This is a developing story and it is not clear if the water is passing over or through them...the winds and seas will continue to pound the region all day and only subside towards the end of the day as Gustav continues to move further inland. Power poles, trees, roofs have been reported down. Damage reports continue to come in as the area continues to receive 100mph winds and stronger in gusts. Heavy weather is being reported from the Florida panhandle to eastern Texas.

NOTE: I will continue to monitor several sources for information, and update the BLOG later today around 6pm. I am on the road for the next couple of hours with satellite radio in hand but no computer..need to work on that!

Gustav on the coast...

Hurricane Gustav is making landfall at this hour on the coast near Grand Isle. The tiny barrier island is under about 4 feet of water at this time as the surge continues to rise. This storm, while being bad, has never looked as bad as Katrina on radar. The good news yesterday was the increase in forward speed which did not allow for any major intensification. In addition dry air working into the system has diminished some of the convection. The short of it is the storm appears to not be as bad as expected. There is flooding and damage and power outages, but so far the news is better than with Katrina. East of downtown New Orleans a 9 foot surge has been reported but the news is the levees are holding.

Winds of close to 100mph have been reported on Grand Island, and 65mph in New Orleans.

We will continue to update all day long as news becomes available from the coast. Keep in mind Hanna is threatening the east coast and two more systems are being watched in the Atlantic. September will be busy. We will turn our attention to Hanna later today.