the same place for now days but especially in the last 12 to 24 hours, that is the key to just how much these levees can take and these pumping systems can take. >> yeah, that accumulation really is what a lot of people are worried about and i heard some of the pumping systems were also not working at this time. we'll try to var fay that information. stand by for us because of course we want to continue following this story. our coverage continues here on "early start." welcome back toe "early start." the national weather survey says emergency management officials in plaquemines parish reported overtopping of a levee on the east bank from brai twa ith to white ditch. they're not usinged word wreeching. they're using the word overtopping of a levee.

sfwl >> reporter: the wind has picked to. that would be an 8 to 9 foot levy, so if it's overtopped, that's a prettyignificant thing to note. last night they were having some problems. one of the floodwalls wouldn't close and they had to bring in a construction company really at thlast minute to put down some of the massive mesh baets full of sand and then they covered it over with gravel because they wanted to be ableto get out of the parish if they had to or get emergency vehicles into the parish. so literally at the last minute creating a wall. i'm not surprised to hear that news. let's talk about what's

happening here. >> at least 12 intersections in the city and probably more now are experiencing significant flooding. we've had debris flying off the trees, so we have to be careful. violent surges in the jackson square area. i can kind of wlk you back. they're warning people to stay away from these areas because these are very deceivingly deep waters. people sometimes tend to walk through them, drive through them. very, very dangerous stuff to do here. this stuff just came down just before our live shot here, these limbs came down off the tree above us. it's a pretty stable tree, but some of the limbs may not be so stable. so this is what we're talking about here. a very violent surge here in

downtown new orleans. you mentioned the overtopping. and people in plaquemines parish was saying that area was already under a mandatory evacuation and they're going door to door to make sure everyone is out of there. they to expect significant flooding, but no deaths or injury as a result of that. >> we know there were 300 people we saw in three various shelters. so we'll take a short break. head it right back to zoraida in new york. >> can i ask yyou one question? the pumping system that they've been talking about yesterday, rob was very concerned about it, does that have anything to do with the levees and the accumulation of water not being able to handle the volume? >> that's a different situation, right. the worry in plaquemines parish which is a low lying parish, they were always concerned about the levees and that's a storm

surge. if it's overtopping, that's water flowing over the top of the levy. that's different than the pumping situation. and if we take a look at the standing water, the problem is right here as brian was just saying, obviously we're not at an intersection here, but the sam general problem. you have today plea in tdebris water and a lot of water. last night maybe two or three inches of standing water. but if the water starts piling up like this and in the intersections it becomes very problematic because the pumps cannot pump out the water fast enough. especially in the driving rain that we've seen. two different problems obviously linked, but two very different problems that they're concerned about. >> all right. thank you. joining us on the phone is the president of plaquemines square. are you there, sir? i'm sorry, plaquemines parish. we just got this information now. emergency management officials reporting overtopping of a

levee. what can you tell us about that? >> well, the levees are over the top ineveral locates. and we'reying to get the few people that have stayed behind out. theoa completely unpassable. there were a couple people stuck on the roads. sheriff deputies are trying to get them to the mississippi rif river levee to get them out. and we've got a serious situation over there. >> do you know about how many people you're trying to evacuate? >> we did a mandatory evacuation, but as always, some people stayed behind. i know of about six or eight people that they were leading out of the parish to st. bernard parish where there's a floodwall and they go up on the mississippi river to get around that floodwater to safety. >> and we were just talking to soledad o'brien walking us through some dialogues that she was having credit about there potentially being a problem with the levee. when did you first notice that you were having shaome problems? was it yesterday?

>> well, we knew we were going to have trouble with the projected storm surge. but we were hoping this storm wouldn't sit out there that long as it's done, backtrack and keep pumping the water up against the levees. and there's just only so much that it can take. and not only did we see the worst case scenario, it got worse than that by the storm just stalling and hanging out there. so the levees can only take so much. we're actually in the process of raising those levees prior to this event. >> raising it as part of the billions of dollars spent on the levees or because of the impending storm? >> no, this is a parish levee that was left out of the federal system. so we were spending our money to raise to give them a fighting chance. we just needed a couple more years and it doesn't look like we got that. >> and you're calling it an overtopping or they're calling it an overtopping as opposed to

a breach. does breach mean that it will break through? >> well, what happens as the water flows over the top, it eventually will eat out portions of that levee which then it washes away. either that or the inside the levee will pifill up. one or the other will happen. either y, tt area will be totally inundated with water. it's coming over in several locations and we're trying to get a couple our pump operators thattayed i the pump staon out. they tried to come out and couldn't make it out. so we're working with the coast gud try to ge those people out. >> well, that puts them in harm's way, as well, the people woing on >> absolutely. >> all righ can you stand by for a second? m in to bring in rob marciano to give us more deils he overtopping. rob. >> reporter: well, the levees

can only go up so high. the longer they're overtopped, the more they have the ability to breach. and that water has the ability to dig through at least the earthen levels of the levee. and what we sa t canals appear that even they can only go down so far. they have put it down deep are now, but they only go so far. >> rob, can yut the mik closer to your mouth? wee having very hard time hearing you. >> reporter: this is the reason that that area was evacuated. the storm surge, the levees only go up so high. and the problem is the longer

they're overwashed ame washewas slower that the storm moves, that's when we have the potential to see a breach. and when we get a breach of those levees, you're talking about more of a catastrophic event. right now it's an event where we just have to wait and see, hope that they hold. but this is the reason that that area was evacuated and the area that plaquemines parish is so susceptible to hurricanes and this is a situation dicey for the folks who live outside of the more fortified levees here around the city of new orleans. >> you're of watching rob marciano there live. i don't know if you can hear him very well, but he was talking about the over reaching of the levees there as opposed to

breaching. is mr. mungusser still on the phone? if you could walk us through, i apologize for mispronouncing your name, if you could walk us through again, we were listening to rob talking about the differences between this overtopping versus the breaching and the fact that the folks who were evacuated from that area specifically because of this and you have given us some more insight telling us that it wasn't covered with the federal dollars and that's why you had evacuated all of the people. and the effort that it's going to take to go door to door at this stage of the game trying to figure out who did decide to stay behind. >> we tried that. the sheriff's deputies are over there. but all the roads are unpassable and the people they were able to reach and get out, we don't know if some people are left behind. and now we can't get there and there's no way that we can operate an air boat in these

winds. so if they're in their house and they got a second floor, they'll need to stay there and we'll have to look at rescuing them as soon as this wind dies down or we get daylight and see what water dealing with. >> and how many people live in that area, when you called for the evacuation, how many did that affect? >> on the east bay, about 2,000 people. the south end is behind federal levee. we have not got any reports that there's a breach or overtopping in that area. in the north end, we know of approximatelywo sdwdozen people that stayed behind. i'd say about half of those we got out. d i'm noture that the other with's got out or not. we didn't have direct communication with all of >> and as a result of th overtopping, are you ordering any additional evacuaons? well, mandatory evacuation, that's all you can do and tl people to get out. but, no, the north end of the

parish, bell chase, the most populated area, is behind part of that new federal 100 year protection. and that's where our shelters are open and for the first time we were able to keep our residents that did evacuate in the shelters in the parish. had that 100 year protection not been in place, these people would have been bused four or five hours away to west monroe, louisiana up in the north portion of the state to safety. mpleted, we don't seeny danger for this area at all at this time. >> all right. president of plaquemines parish, we reay appreciate your time this morning. good luck to you. i know you have a lot of hard wok ahead work ahead of you. we wish you well. and coming up, to karen ginnis to get theatest on the storm itself, how strong it is and where exactly it is headed. eels of ogress. seems they haven't been moving much lately.

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welcome back. you're taking a look at live pictures. this is jackson square, french quarter, in new orleans, louisiana. there are whipping winds going on there. i know you cannot see that right now. there is intense flooding in that area. and we have breaking news that has come into the cnn news rool. emergency management officials in plaquemines parish reported overtopping of a levee in the east bank from braithwaite to white ditch. this will result in significant deep flooding in that area. and we were speaking to billy nungusser and he's the president of plaquemines parish and he would told us that area had gone under a mandatory evacuation, it affected about 2,000 people. unfortunately not everybody left the ea. we know some people were hunkering down. they were attempting to go door to door to notify the people that they needed to get out of

that area because of the overtopping of the levee. but it's back very difficult and dangerous to access that area. so they said if somebody is still in that area, go to your second floor to find safety until they can get somebody into that area to assist with the evacuations. but right now a very serious situation because of the overtopping of a levee. we'll go over to karen maginnis in the cnn hurricane headquarters. what can you tell us about this? we know it's a very precarious situation for this area. we're very concerned about the people left there. when i asked the president how many people he thought, he said maybe 7 to 9. he wasn't sure. becae they weren't really keeping track of exactly how many people evacuated. >> we have reports that there are people that did not evacuate. in this district from

braithwaite to white ditch, this is about 18 miles, they were saying they were going door to door telling people to evacuate as a levee, the 8-foot levee, overtopped. it was not breached. meaning there was not a hole. the wave action didn't -- >> break through? >> exactly. this h it has oveopped it. there were also reports that there was 9 feet of water in some of these residences. we'll zoom in and show you most of these look like residential areas. looks like fairly large lots here, as well. and terp apparently upset because they didn't get the upgrade as far as the levies go. or we were expecting between maybe 15 to 20 inches of rainfall as hurricane isaac has stalled across the south coast of louisiana and in peculiin per

tick could you you lar for plaquemines rainfall, they saw record rainfall. more than 4 inches of rain. in the view that we have here, we see the community just a few homes here and there. and they were going door to door. but you can imagine what a terrifying situation -- >> kan, can you leave that up for a minute in that's the whole area that is affected pby this overtopped levee? >> this is a portion. the portion that has apparently been overtopped is this 18 mile area from braithwaite to white ditch. and this is the region where they're saying they're going door to door to get people out

or people to evacuate. you have to remember, this is practically the middle of the night. not a lot of visibility. and with this overtopped as we said, not breached, it means it hasn't broken, but it's just gone over that levee, that this is a terrifying situation and we looked at the number ofpeople in this district and it's stilted to be about 12,000. but in this particular 18 mile area, maybe a couple thousand people right along that levee. >> that is exactly what he said earlier, he said it was about 2,000 people and he knows the majority did evacuate, so not a lot of people, but at this stage of the game, they cannot get to them so they're waiting to see if the coast guard can come in and assist them with that. and i wanted to mention something you said that was important, this was not part of the $14.5 billion that was spent. so they were in the process of trying to build up this levee to make it stronger hoping that it would last a little longer. we'll continue to check in with you.

in the meantime let's check this with john berman. >> and if anything breaks, well go right back to it, t we want to give you a quick flavor from tampa. paul ryan will accept the nomination tonight. last night it was the start. it was chris christie giving the keynote address, the governor of new jersey. and the star might have been ann romney. trying to expose mitt's softer side. i'm here with jessica yellin. and jessica, with ann romney last night who delivered this speech with incredible grace and poise, there were moments where there was no subtlety at all. it was very clear who her audience was. let's listen. >> we're the mothers. we're the wives. we're the grandmothers. we're the big sisters. we're the little sisters and we

are the daughters. you know it's true, don't you? i love you women! >> there it is. no subtlety there. >> no suggebtlety. the president has a distinct advantage among women voters. latest polling shows by 30 points he's seen as being more in touch with women than mitt romney is among likely voters. that is a huge gap. women were the voters who helped put the president over the top in 2008 and as you know, romney's trying to win their votes. and so this is his weapon to help try to move women. and the category they're really going for are married women. that's where they think they can make some gains. >> she talked a lot about their marriage, saying it's not a storybook marriage it's a real marriage. and she talked about her great love for her husband, how they

met in high school. and later in the night we also heard from chris christie who gave the keynote address. he talked about love, but in a much different way. i want to play a sound bite from him. >> we are demanding that our leaders stop tearing each other down and work together to take action on the big things facing america. toon tonight we'll choose respect over love. >> respect over love. >> it's a subtle dig perhaps at the president obama. suggesting that he's going for popularity over making the tough calls. and sort of vision he's trying to lay out for the republican party. paul ryan has laid out the series of cuts or changes to the entitlements program that are politically difficult. and he's saying let's do the thing that will get us respect,

making political difficult choicesed informed of the love of voters. >> times to make the tough divisions, mitt romney is the man to do that. >> that was his point. it took his about 17 minutes to make it after he mentioned himself many more times at the beginning. >> jessica, i'm very glad you're here. a lot going on today. paul ryan delivering his acceptance speech tonight. for now back to you you in new york. and when we come back, we'll have a lot more on the breaking news story. there has been an overtopping of a levee at plaquemines parish. we'll get more details, more information for you right after the break. ♪

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so, whether it's 10 years' of life's sunny days... or... the occasional stormy one... trust goes a long way. duracell with duralock. trusted everywhere. welcome back to "early start." this is a look at live pictures from louisiana. i have breaking news that i wanted to share with you. emergency management officials in plaquemines parish reported overtopping of a levee on the east bank from braithwaite to white ditch. this will result in significant deep flooding in that area. we mad spokhad spoken earlier t president of plaquemines parish. and karen mcbegaginnis has some

wonderful graphics. he said it's an area that affects about 2,000 people. there was an evacuation ordered there, but some people stayed behind. so if you could walk us through where that area is and what exactly has happened. >> apparently it's about an 8-foot high levee. and it affects about 18 miles along this river area. this is the region from braithwaite to white ditch. here is that levee. along that levee, they're estimating 1900, maybe 2,000 people. we also have seen those reports that some people did not leave. they were effectively going to try to go door to door to make sure people were either safe or out. that's very dangerous to try to make a rescue operation or to search and rescue people who have not evacuated an area that probably needed to. take a look at this.

we have what looks to be residential areas, kind of spaced out fairly nicely. but as you can see, there's a lot of empty land across this region. this is the area that they are saying will see significant deep flooding. they have also reported maybe 9 feet, that's how much these homes perhaps up to 9 feet covering the bottom floor. not this hour in particular, but just saying in general. so that water rushes in and we're looking at between 15 and maybe 20, maybe more than 20 inches of rainfall. and let's back out on the google earth and i want to mention one other thing. we'll take a look a little bit further up on the river in a place called chumette. earlier in the evening, we had the report of a barge in 60 plus

miles per hour winds that broke loose, slammed into three boats. one was a 47-foot boat. and sunk it. there were no people reported on those boats. no injuries. but it shows you the constant pool does damage. the trees are weakened. the buildings, the higher up you go, the stronger those winds are. still at a category 1 hurricane. we had a period of time about two, three hours where this was not moving at all, it was stationery. but i want to also -- >> just dumping rain. >> continuously.

the western edge almost looks ke falling apart. i hesitate to say that because i don't want people on this side of the storm to think that it's okay to walk about and think nothing's going to happen. we have intense bands wrapping around this and as a result, it's going to make it over on this other side. but as this progresses further towards the north and northwest over the next several days, affecting arkansas, northern sections of louisiana, baton rouge, i need to mention you're the next in line. but we've seen in excess of 350,000 people without power over the past few hours. >> all right, karen maginnis live for us in the muhurricane center. i don't want to lose sight of the fact that we're talking about the over topping of a levee in the east bank from braithwaite to white ditch. there are some people essentially trapped in that area now because they did not heed the evacuation orders. and that is according to

plaquemines parish president. we are going to go back and check in with soledad o'brien, she's spent a lot of time in this area, see if we can pinpoint exactly where those people are trapped. we believe honor is nott u exclusive to the military, and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. with our award winning apps that allow you to transfer funds, pay bills or manage your finances anywhere, anytime. so that wherever your duty takes you, usaa bank goes with you. visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. it's hard to see oortunity in today's challenging environment. unless you have the righ pepeiv ny mellon wealthanagement s the sion and experiebeyond thvious.

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breaking news. emergency management officials reported overtopping of a levee on the east bank from braithwaite to white ditch. this will result in significant deep flooding in the area. really important here that the word i'm using is overtopping and not a breach of the levee. so the water is so high that it has actually gone over the levee. let's check this with rob marciano, he's live there. rob. >> a huge difference. overtopping, they're designed to overtop, but not for an extended period of time. and that's the concern. they have about an 8-foot levee

and 10 or 12-foot storm surge, you do the math. you'll get overwashing. so it's frustrating in that parish when you have mandato evacuation, when you know the fost andou know the capabilities of that levee system and people dn' evacuate. so that's the situation right now we have a handful of people, maybe more, who have not evacuated that part of plaquemines parish and now are at risks as the water continues to pour in from the gulf mexico and overtop that levy system. the northern part of plaquemines parish has protection. and that's where the shelters are and that's where people who live obviously didn't have to evacuate. we by the way are along the port of new orleans which of course is closed as you would imagine.

a much worse scenario today than it was last night. wind's blowing more consistently, near hurricane strength. this hurricane will the center of it is 60 to 70 miles to our south. hurricane force winds stepped 50 to 60. so we're right on the cusp of getting sustained hurricane force winds. we're getting murk force gusts, but not sustained for sure. and the rain continues to come down. our gear is protected under this overhang here and at times you can see just how much water is pouring down off this overhang. so that's the other issue i'm sure karen talked about. we'll's 10, 15, in some cases maybe over 20 inches of rainfall. fresh water flooding within this new protection of levee systems. that will be issue number one. so you've got levees in some cases being overtopped, here inside the city where the levees are higher, stronger, likely not to be overtopped. but we'll definitely see fresh water flooding because of all

the torrential rain and how slow this storm is moving. i mean, it is crawling. so we're into likely for much of the day. >> which seems to be what's causing all of the problem, how slow it is and how much rain it's dumping in the area. >> absolutely. and that was the concern as isaac approached. we kept making comparisonses to other storms and the closer it got and the track it started taking which was to the west of new orleans, which is different from katrina's path to the east, and obviously a much weaker storm. but the size of the circulation that increased the storm surge and the speed as which we knew it was going to move, that had everybody concerned. that's really what this storm will be known for. and quite frankly, in the last 12 hour, it's moved even slower than we thought. so that's why the rainfall forecast totals have been

inching up. and because of the slow movement or at times no movement at all, you're talking about a lot of flooding that will happen right up through south central louisiana. >> and we see it ebb and flow as we're watching you. rob marciano, thank you very much. and i'd like to bring back in the president of plaquemines parish. sir, are you there? >> yes, i am. >> if we can talk about that area. we're very concerned about the people who could be left behind and because of this overtopping of the levee there what the situation is now. earlier you said it was difficult to access the area. is that still the case? >> yes, we have about 30 vehicles that got to the ferry landing. they're sitting in their vehicles there riding it out. we were able to get some people out into st. bernard and parish president there has taken them

into one of their parish buildings. but we have reports of 10 to 12 foot of water in homes and we're working with the coast guard, we've got word of acle. we're working at trying to get those people rescued as soon as the winds die down or get first light. >> when i talked to you earlier, you were urging people if they are in areas like that to go to second floors. you can talk to me about the homes and how they're built? >> right at this point, there's no way to get to them. so if the water is coming up and they got a second floor, they need to get to it. we don't advise people to go into the tick unless they got a way to break out of the attic if the water continues to come up.

we have an area in the parish woodlawn we call it that had absolutely no water for katrina. they have five feet of water there. and we flood water in that area for katrina. so this storm is driving in more water to the east bank. >> and you mentioned that somebody is stranded on a levee you said in a car. you can tell me more about that? >> we don't have a lot of it information. we lost radio contact with them. and the coast guard is working on a plan to try to get to those people no >> do we know it's more than within? >> is two guys working for the pari. they're parish employees. and they were pump operators that were leaving the pmp station when the wat started coming over the levee, they were evacting that mp station because ere wanoeed to pump anymore. and they got good halfway done

the levee an couldn't into >> wow. and you said you have lost radio communication with them at this stage of the game, so y have no idea what condition they're in right now. >> no. last we talked, ty weree ande're woinwith the coast guard to try to come up with a y these people. >> and how long agou talk them, sir? >> about ten minutes ago. >> and i just wanted to talk more about the numbe of people who actually live in that area that you had a mandatory evacuation. thought you saidher abt people in that ar where there was a mdatory evuation. yeah, there's 2,000 people on thst bank that we asked to evacuate. half of them a behind a al levee on theuth end of the east bay. we have no reports that that vee's be ed o topped. the north en the east bank, braithwaite to white ditch, that

area is completely inundated in water. >> and do you have any incation aut ho peonye e left behind? >> no, we don't. we had a mandatory evacuation. sheriff's deputies were going door to door to see who was left behind and they did get sevelop. several people drove themselves to the ferry landing which is above the mississippi river levee. so they're sitting up there in their vehicles because the roads became impassable very quickly. within a matter of minutes, we went from getting people out to the roads being too flood to the move vehicles. >> so earlier when you said when five to seven people, what you meant were those were the ones that were able to get out? >> they were moving up before the water came up. it came up that a quickly. >> so you have no idea who is left behind. >> no, we don't. >> and the last thing i wanted to talk to you about is this $14.5 billion that was spent to

rebuild the area including the levees after katrina. i found and article here saying there was $1.5 billion in levee upgrades in plaquemines parish. was this particular levee not included in that? >> was not. the $1.5 billion we signed about six weeks and he go with the corps of engineerses, that's the west bank levees that we're worried about. that work has not started yet. that work will start here before the end of the year and will take two to three years to complete. >> so as this storm continues and we hear that it just kind of sits and it's dumping an incredible amount of rain, are you concerned about any other levees? >> we're concerned about the levees that that money is funded to build on the west bank. when this storm swings around, we'll get the same kind of beating on the west levees. the mississippi river runs in the middle of this parish. we have four levees.

back and the mississippi. right now we're dealing with the east bank back levee. when it kicks away, we'll see the same storm surge on the west bank levees that will be in the federal system built with that $1.5 billion. >> so are you ordering any deshl evacuations? >> no. the belle chasse area is behind the new orleans billions that was spent. so we have 100 year protection in the area that we are right how and that's where we evacuated our people to. usually we bring them five hours away, but because of those federal levying otherwise in belle chasse, we were able to safely bring the people that needed shelter right here and keep them close to home. >> all right, billy nungesser, if you could stand by. i want to bring soledad o'brien in, as well.

>> what he's describing i think what the fear was from people there. the parish is very long and thip and the thip a thin and low lying and if you you keep taking the main road out of town, you basically hit the water. we spent a lot of time on one of these floodwalls and went down to check it out, and one of the gates would not close and they were doing last minute emergency preparations by trying to go back and put mesh back and they fill it with sand and they lock them all together and that creates a big wall if you you stack them up. what they were trying to do is create a road over those basket so is they could block any floodwaters and allow emergency

vehicles in and out. they were doing this yesterday afternoon as the rains were coming in and the wind was picking up a bit. but they said this was one of those gateses in the part of the levee system that had not been fixed and that was problematic. so there were concerns early yesterday that something like this could happen. and when you hear about the overtopping of the levee, they're talking about the east part, that's a levee that's about 8 to 9 feet high. we can show you the pictures where we are, you can see the driving wind, what he's talking about. sending water over that levee. and it wears down the top of the levee, so that will be very problematic. as president nungesser described trying to recent due people from their homes, it is so dark out and very scary, terrifying

actually to have people who are up in homes and water is pouring in and impossible to get to them. you cannot get emergency vehicles to them at this time. it's really treacherous. you're looking at this map of plaquemines parish. it's a very narrow -- that's the parish. 's surrounded by water. and that's why the concern is that more than 90% of that parish was under water in katrina and he's describing that the overtopping -- >> we have some graphics that we're showing as you go along. if you could just stand by. we'll take a quick break and then we'll bring you back along with president nungesser to talk more about plaquemines parish and the peril they're facing. copd makes it hard to breathe,

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welcome back. you're taking a look at a live picture from new orleans, louisiana where hurricane isaac is reeking its havoc. and breaking news to tell you about. emergency management officials in plaquemines parish reported overtopping of the levee on the east bank from braithwaite to white ditch. this will they say result in significant deep flooding in that area. we talked to the parish president, billy nungesser, and he told us that there is apparel husband situation going on right now because they did order a mandatory evacuation in this area and of course not everybody heeded that warning. so they are in effect now trying to figure out what to do with the folks who stayed behind. they sent people into go door to door, but at this stage of the game, they can no longer do that

because the waters he said in some cases are swefl fe12 feet people's homes. about 2,000 people live in that area. he thinks half definitely got out. uncertain as to how many stayed behind. he did say that the first level when they went acseven people, ft behind.ss as to hony are l continue to check in with them. we do know they're working with the cot guard to try resolve that stion. and there are some folks stranded right near the levee, two workers that area. and we talked minutes ago and h last time that he had spoken to them was teninutes befe throughadio communication, but they no longer had that radio communication. they do know the ect location of those two men and they are

also working at trying to get this to them to safety. but the area is covered in water. so we are going to continue to monitor the situation for you and bring you the very latest develops there. this is in plaquemines parish where the situation is happening. in the meantime, we'll head over to our other top story of the morning and that is in tampa, florida. john berman standing by there anchoring the republican national convention coverage. >> good morning. and tonight paul ryan will accept the vice presidential nomination fothrepublican party just a few short steps from where i am right now in the cnn grill. a few hours ago, it was chris christie delivering the keynote address. but the speech that may have given the most excitement to the crowd came from ann romney, mitt romney's wife, who is trying to present the sort of softer side to the former massachusetts governor. did it work? i'm joined by margaret hoover, a republican strategist, former employee of the bush administration. sh@e's here right now. i want to get a general sense.

how do you think they did? >> i think they both did good. the first thing you have to keep in mind for these sort of speeches as you're getting to know the candidate, you're building up to mitt romney, the first cardinal rule is do no harm. and not only did they do in harm, they also began to -- look, ann romney talked about her husband and you began to get a sense of his character from the unique character witness and perspective and position that she's had in his life as his partner and the journey they're had for over 40 years. i think she hit a double. she didn't need to hit a home run. but i think she hit a strong double. >> just a double. that's interesting. let me play a little of the sound because one of the things we've been talking about is the target audience have been the women vote. of course mitt romney trails president obama. but i want to play one short wooit in whi bite in which she talks about women in a not too subtle way. >> we're the mothers. we're the wives. we're the grandmothers, we're the big sisters. we're the little sisters and we

are the daughters. you know it's true, don't you. i love you women! >> so so there's not much nuance in that. i love you women. >> so we knew that ann romney was going to talk to women, try connect with women. of course mitt romney has been behind women by double digits from president obama. so there is no question about whether she was going to try to reach out to women, whether she was going to try to bridge the divide. she's been part of the debate ever since a democratic commentator said that ann romney hasn't had a job the day of her life. that's when the numbers started to change in terms of women softening for mitt romney. the question for conservatives who really pride ourselves as not pandering to special

interest groups is was ann romney able to strike the right balance, was she able to invoke the amount o sympathy or did she hue too close it the line of simply saying remember, i'm a woman, women, women, women. in a way that rubs conservatives sometimes the wrong way. >> you say she hit a double, not a home run. thank you very much for being here. we'll talk to you throughout the morning. there is a lot of news going on right now in new orleans, in louisiana with hurricane hitting and i want to go back to zoraida. the latest on a developing story, breaking news. the overtopping of a levee on the east bankfrom braithwaite to white ditch. it will result in significant flooding. when we come back, we'll talk to the president of black minuplaq parish. and also soledad o'brien. i'm so glad you called. thank you.

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good orning, welcome to "early start." i'm john berm ks an live in tampa. but we have breaking new this morning. it is about hurricane isaac, which is pounding louisiana right now. for that i want to go to zoraida. >> and the breaking news is emergency management officials in plaquemines parish reported overtopping of a levee on the east bank from a breakwith to white ditch. this will result in significant flooding in the area. hurricane isaac has en pouring rain down into that area which is creating quite a problem there. it is an overtoppi of a levee and we're going to get more details here. we've been talking with the president of plaquemines parish,

billy nungesser and we have soledad o'brien in louisiana. i want to bring you both on. mr. nungesser, earlier we were concerned about two workers stranded on the levee. you were telling us and you had lost communication with them. is there an update on that? >> yeah, we did regain communication by radio. and we have someone that is going to make an attempt to reach them by boat. one of the residents has a bt not far from there, very familiar with the area. going to attempt to try to get to them shortly. the problem is you can't see very well, the rain and wi blowing so hard and our fire department made attempts to rescue people in that ea. reportshere was one lady o rooftop. and so we're fighting these elements and enlisting the national guard and coast guard

>> so it's not the coastguard but actual resident who will attempt to rescue them? >> yes, we just got word he was going to take a boat and he had a boat that was in the area and he was going to make an attempt to go get them off the levee. >> i want to recap for anyone joining us. is area under mndator evacuation, about 2,000 people you said earlier live in the area. some people did stay behind, chose not to evacuate. you can update on that and soledad, feel free pin. i know the two of you have been chatting since yesterday. soledad, you're very familiar with this area we want to update aso how many people still affected. originally it was 2,000. do you have a grasp, president nungesser aow man may be behind in theirhomes. >> zoraida -- >> go ahead. >> hold on, soledad, mr.

nungesser will answer the question then we'll go to you. >> 2,000 residents live over there. most of them got out. less than a dozen -- that's all we kno at this time. >> soledad, are you there? mr. nungesser when we can continue talking -- here's soledad. yes, can you hear me? >> reporter: obviously we're having serious audio problems as the winds have picked up dramatically here and the rain is kind of painful when it runs into your face. you're listening to billy nungesser talk about some of the overtopping and the wind really pushing that water overtopping. we're experiencing that wind. what he's describing is something we saw a lot of in hurricane katrina. people where i am and i'm in the more touristy section of jackson square, they feel protected

because of the levee work done, $1.1 billion wall that they closed the gates on yesterday afternoon to try to protect against any kind of storm surge. those are some serious upgrades but obviousl anything outside the levee system and anything that hasn't been upgratded is still a weakness. >> that's exactly what president nungesser was saying. i'm getting a report, the national weather service is receiving reports of 5 feet of water from wood lawn fire department in the area and says plaquemines emergency management say the overtopping was a parish back levee from saint bernard parish to white ditch. they are saying 5 feet of water in that area. where is it in relation to -- >> the wood lawn area is an area that actually did not flood for katrina. we had no water at wood lawn from katrina. and there's 5 feet in an area

that had no water from katrina. that tells you water that's being pumped in by the storm. we have reports of 10 to 12 feet of water in holmes. if there's someone in their roof, they are up there because their home is inundated with water. >> clearly it's difficult for anybody to see anything and to see if there are more people stranded on rooftops because it's simply t dark? >> it's dark but also this driving rain is -- you're starting to see it there in the french quarter but we've been seeing it all night. and you can't drive in it, can't see. it stings. you can't see your hand in front of your face. it's wind and driven rain and it's -- it makes it very difficult to do anything out in it. >> soledad was saying that earlier you were actually trying to secure this levee, i believe that was yesterday when she was in the area. did the residents see that you

were attempting to secure the levee that perhaps there could be a problem and still made the decision to stay behind? >> well, we always try to storm proof before an event. knowing that the storm surge that was projected in those areas, we did everything that was physically possible to beef them up, cover them with plastic the best weould for this event. but now that we see water at wood lawn, and area that had no water for katrina, that tells you the amount of volume of water that is being pushed over the levees into this community, nonstop for all of this time and it's going to continue for several more hours. >> that's 5 feet of water from the wood lawn fire department. how far is that from the levee? >> that's not far from the levee. but that's the highe area of east bank of plaquemines parish, it's never flooded before. and the fire depament reported 5 feet there and 12 and 14 feet in other areas.

that show you there's more water being pumped in there than some of those areas saw for trina. >> and i want to reiterate, this is an overtopping of a levee in plaquemines parish, this was a levee not covered by the $14.5 billion spent on the state after hurricane katrina. there is an article here and it's from the army corps of engineers that said that 1.5 billion in levee upgrades were spent in plaquemines parish. and you're telling us it was not a levee included in the $5 billion. >> this was left out of the levee system because they didn't seek the justificn r the amount of people that live there is the only thing we can figure. the 1.5 billion that's being spent, that work will start in about a month. that's the west bank, the levees th we were worried about after the storm kicks around and i'm sure we'll be talking about those levees tomorrow. so the people that are living

in that area, will they be evacuated or has that been ordered snd. >> they were evacuated the day before yesterday or yesterday, i'm losing track of the days now. >> i can't imagine, you're working very hard there. >> if we can update before i let you go. the condition of the two stranded workers. at were they doing in the area? do you expect to be able to take them out soon? >> we're going to do everything possible, absolutely. what we do is our pump operators stay in the pump stations as long as they feel safe. the minute they feel safety is a problem, they are authorized to leaveimmediately and come to the government complex. these workers saw the water coming over the levee, got in their vehicle and headed out. it came up within minutes to where they didn't feel safe driving their vehicle any further. so they stopped on the levee and we began to try to get to them to get them out of there. >> and you did menti earlier that there is a resident in the

area with a boat who is going to attempt to rescue? >> absolutely, he called in. >> we wish them well. it sounds awfully dangerous. >> it is. he's very brave and we didn't encourage him to do it but he insisted to try to bring these men back to the main levee. >> that's what you do for your neighbors. president nungesser we apprecia your time. please stand by because we'll check in again. we want to know how many people are left behind and if in fact you're able to rescue them. we appreciate your time this morning and good luck to you. in another part of the gulf coast getting smacked by isaac, mississippi. cnn national correspondent david mattingly is live in gulfport which has been getting pounded with wind and you've got rain right now as well. >> we've got some rain but the wind has been very, very consistent all night long. and at times we've had absolutely torrential rain where you can't see very hard ahead of

you but onefthose bands is not with us right now. we have been getting reports in the last hour of flooding in the low lyingreas along the coastal areas of mississippi. this is -- these areas are hundreds of square miles along the coast here. and in some places they are seeing a couple of feet of floodwaters. and we haven't really seen significant storm surge just yet because high tide isn't until about mid morning. so that's the point we're expecting to see in somereas possibly up to out 10eet of storm surge along the coast here in mississippias this storm has just parked itself right here on the coast. so far we're hearing from emergency officials to say they are very pleased with the way people heeded evacuation warnings and people who lived in the low-lying areas. we see a couple of thousand people in shelters tonight. we also at this point have several thousand homes that are

in the dark without electricity. and as this storm continues, this relentless tropical storm force conditions here, we're going to see the ground continuing to be saturated and trees blowing over and power lines going down and more and more homes in the dark. so, at this point, the significant thing here is the low-lying areas of coastal mississippi, we have confirmed that there is flooding. a couple of feet in some areas. some roads are flooded and some roads are closed and we're really not even close to being out of this storm yet, zoraida. >> >> no, this one will stick around for a while. david mattingly, thank you very much. stay with us here, we have coverage along the entire gulf coast of hurricane isaac. we'll talk about the overtopping of a levee in plaquemines parish. two workers stranded there and there is a resident who is attempting to rescue him at this

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welcome back to "early star start". we're live in new orleans, louisiana, where hurricane isaac has some whipping winds, a lot of flooding in that area. we have breaking news to report as well. a levee that has been overtopped in plaquemines parish, louisiana, it extends roughly from braithwithe to white dish.

soledad, you were talking to the president of the parish and he was setting up a system to maybe stop this breach of a levee from happening. did the people in the area see that happening? why didn't they heed that warning? >> reporter: zoraida, let me tell you where we are. some of the issues in plaquemines are similar to here, which is this driving rain. when billy nungesser talks about the wind blowing water over the levee, which is 8 to 9 foot high. this is some of that driving rain and wind as well. the problems in plaquemines parish, some of the levee system is outside of the federal levee protection which means it hasn't been upgraded. that's not the levee system that has had all of money poured into

it. they had serious concerns about that yesterday when we spoke to the parish president. some of those big concerns obviously are being realized today. the big problem of course, zoraida as you try to rescue people. that's what he says now, they are trying to pull people out of what seems to be 10 feet of water, 12 feet of water in the parish because the levee has been overtopped in the area. that is obviously very problematic. look how dark it is and in this weather it will be almost impossible for rescue crews to get in there until the sun rises a little bit. yesterday when we were working in plaquemines what we saw was a flood gate outside the system, which means it wasn't even really working. they were trying to create massive sandbags, about my height, probably 3 feet wide, to block off what was a road that was right in the storm's path essentially. then after that they paved a

road over it or put gravel over it to bring emergency vehicles in and out of that road. that was a real last minute attempt to try to see if they could hold off the floodwaters should they come and that seems to be a big problem in that parish right now. we know there are around 300 people who are in shelters in plaquemines parish. yesterday afternoon they also put a curfew in from dusk to dawn. and those folks are people who thought they were in such low lying areas it would be better for them to get out of their homes and try to ride out the storm in one of those shelters which included a church and auditorium, clearly that was a smart decision as they see the problems they are having in that parish right now. we're going to have an opportunity when the sun comes up a bit to check in with folks and see how they are doing today. for folks in new orleans, they are hoping to avoid the problems in plaquemines parish because

they created this wall, $1.1 billion levee system. we took pictures of this yesterday. runs two miles, big problem, of course, in the past, certainly in katrina, was there was a surge of water that ran up the oast highy and that's wh flooded the lower ninth ward and city of new orleans. bernarpa as ll.problem for saint what they are hoping to do is block off that storm they close the gates yestday afternoon and they are hoping thathe walls which ar 26 feet in some areas, 200 feet from the water n. but we're watching that closely. this is tourist central. we're jaquare in new orleans. here's the big problem, not just the driving wind and rain but standing water we're seeing. when we left here last night, probably 2 inches, much higher than that now. combination of debris and

standing water is what's worrying everybody here because the pumping system, even at the best times can't pump that much water out of the city. it's a real worry for people. we're watching that as well. >> soledad, earlier when we were talking to the president, he mentioned a couple of other levees he was concerned about. do you know anything about that? >> reporter: yeah, this is a problem for plaquemines parish, you've been showing a great map which shows plaquemines parish is long and thin, surrounded by these bayous. you have this complicated levee system dotted all around the area. they are worried about a lot of those levees, they are outside the upgrade region. they are watching them closely and they are right to be concerned. they haven't been fixed and it's something they've been before the storm frankly they were worried about the strength of those levees.

we've got jennifer delgado joining us. can you hear me? >> i'll take it away. we're going to take a bit more about the overtopping of the breach. of this levee. as we show on the graphic here and we're talking about an 18-mile stretch area that extends from braithwithe and located 70 filmw orleans. show y rght here. this is actually the levee. we do know it was built about 8 feet. parently trying t wk on the second phase of this levee. well the problemof cours we're talking about the overtopping and the rainfall has been incredible. so when you're talking about persistent heavy rainfall, of course this is going to put

strain on the levee system. we are hearing reports of roughly 1200 residents that live in the region. as you can see for yourself, it's not really widely populated. but this gives an idea. this is the levee and this is the street view. you can see when it starts to come over, yes, it threatens land, of course. roads are impassable and you're looking at a home right here. the other problem too is when you're dealing with the heavy rainfall, then you combine in the strong winds and i know they mentioned that a resident was trying to go rescue a resident in need. the problem is whether conditions are so bad right now this is certainly not a smart thing to do. now as i minimize this for you a bit more. we want to talk about the bad weather also has happening. as we go to the radar, we do have actually a tornado warnings in place. now they are in place. it looks like roughly to about 5:45, that central time for anywhere you're seeing in

mississippi. you can see just to the east of biloxi and then up towards the north. you can see just northwest of wiggins, this means make sure you are in steady shelter and get to the lowest place in your home. we do have a tornado warning and this will be a great threat as we go throughout the morning. as i minimize this for you an we take you over and show you on the wider view, we do have a tornado watch in place. we're expecting this hurricane to weaken as we go later into the day wind wise but the problem is the rainfall is not going to lessen at all. we're talking about an incredible amount. some of these areas 10 to 20 inches. certainly this is going to be a strain on really any of those levee systems and it's going to be really something to see how they all hold up against this. soledad? >> reporter: all right, jennifer, thanks for that update. we're standing in the middle of it. we're covering hurricane isaac now live for you. you're watching our special coverage as we tell you what's

happening in the various parishes here. i'm in the middle of the french quarter, jackson square where the driving wind and rain is actually quite painful and hard to stand up at some points. big concern here is the flooding. of course we're monitoring what's happening around the city and other parishes as well. let's get right to rob marciano. where are you and what are you seeing? >> reporter: we are at the port of new orleans and we're seeing the structures around us actually begin to peel apart just north of where the carnival cruiselines or west where the where the carnival cruise lines load and unload is this industrial area where probably the largest mardi gras warehouse is of mardi gras stuff. to my left is an area that has probably hosts a lot of mardi gras balls. when we get sun up, we'll be able to show you a structure there that's no doubt used to entertain people is being slowly ripped apart. as you mention, the winds have

certainly gotten a lot worse as has the rain. i come underneath the protected structure where we're trying to keep our equipment dry, exceedingly difficult because the rain, as you can see is coming down side ways and coming down very, very steadily. weather now versus what it was 7 or 8 hours ago is much more consistently bad in the way of winds that are sustained at 40 and in some cases 45 miles per hour. higher gusts than that. we had report of a wind gust on lake upon chapontchartrain, 83 r hour. we're on the right side of it, the bad side, the dirty side. katrina we were on the left side. this has a whole other handful of ramifications and one is the overtopping of levees in

plaquemines parish. because that water is being pushed on the right side, new orleans and much of the southeast louisiana is getting the brunt of this storm. and we have a tornado watch going on and the winds are going to be near hurricane force probably for the next six to eight hours. we're in this for a good chunk of today soledad -- or zoraida. >> >> reporter: it isn't feeling good. feeling like it's gotten stronger. 6 to 8 hours of this will be a long way. thanks, rob. we have to take a short break and we'll come back and update you on what's happening here in new orleans as we monitor hurricane isaac and the progress it's making as it hits the gulf coast. stay with us.

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good morning, everybody, you're watching our special coverage of hurricane isaac as it hits the gulf coast. we're coming to you live from new orleans this morning, brian todd and i have been bearing out the storm overnight. a couple of things we're watching, the standing water could be a big problem. >> absolutely. we've been here since midnight and you felt it just as i have, these are the strongest bursts we have seen since midnight of wind and rain. standing water. we can bring you over here. our photo journalist is going to come with me. this standing water here has increased in volume in the last few hours. we're getting just a lot of rainfall. i'm not sure how many inches an hour. i believe our meteorologist have said this thing could bring up to 3 inches of rain per hour.

i don't know if it's doing that right now but it's getting close. standing water is a huge danger. city officials say do not go near the stuff and don't step in it, it is deceivingly deep. you can see the debris field, limbs have been flying around us. i don't know if you can get a shot of the trees. this one is a pretty solid tree but it's whipping around and losing a lot of limbs. they are flying around here. we're told that at least 12 intersections of new orleans have water like this, are experiencing flash flooding and at least 25 intersections, streets are down -- exse me, trees are down in the streets and brought down power lines with them. and at least two of those locations we were told that people had to be rescued from their homes, evacuated from their homes because trees fell on their homes. soledad, at least two rescue situations in the city of new orleans. >> let's talk about outside the city of new orleans, plaquemines, you and i have

spent time there. bill nungesser talking about the problems they are having there. it looks like one of the levees has been overtopped. he says the strong winds have pushed some of the water right into the parish. they are very concerned about that. also people who did not evacuate, they are trying to see if they can locate them. unsure how many folks they cannot track down. >> they are having a tough time getting to them because of these conditions. they do expect severe flooding and that's a very low lying area. they were under a mandatory evacuation and he was a little frustrated this morning when he was on our air that some people didn't get out. he thinks maybe 6 or 8 didn't get out. he doesn't know how much are stranded. >> they are watching that as well. here in new orleans, one of the issues they arie they are worris the surge. the storm surge is something, that wall they have now built, at the cost of $1.1 billion, they are hoping is going to protect against any kind of storm surge. it's 26-foot high wall.

that should be able to protect the city certainly in what we're seeing so far but clearly in plaquemines parish where much of that parish is outside of the levee system and outside the federal system and rebuild. that's a huge problem for them there. we're going to continue to monitor hurricane isaac for you, not only here in new orleans but from all of our locations. we'll check back in with billy nungesser. we're back in just a moment. you're watching special coverage of hurricane isaac. stay with us. ♪

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welcome back, it is 37 minutes past the hour. you're taking a live look at new orleans, louisiana, where hurricane isaac is creating quite of bit of havoc. there is a lot of rain falling in the area. when we first talked about this storm and hurricane, we talked about a big rain event and that is exactly what has been happening. there has been a problem with a levee in louisiana. soledad o'brien is live on the phone with us right now. it's plaquemines parish where they had a problem with the levee. i know we have coverage along the entire gulf coast. what's the latest where you are? >> where we are, which is in jackson square, new orleans, for anybody who has come as a tourist to the city has spent time in jackson square, right now completely desert the as the

rain is now a driving rain. the big concern and you're looking at the live picture of our location. you can see the standing water and that's been a big concern. we were talking about this yesterday with the pumping system. we were very concerned whether the pumps would be able to get the standing water out of the city. but you're seeing there, symbolic of what's happening at 12 intersections and had to close them down, can't get the water out. plaquemines parish, as you talked about a minute ago, they are in some trouble, been hearing from the parish president, billy nungesser about the issues there. very, very low lying area. absolutely hammered in the wake of hurricane katrina. more than 90% was under water. one of those levees has been overtopped. the levee that was not rebuilt. it's outside of the federal protection area and that means that they are expecting some severe flooding, maybe 8 to 10 feet is what the president was saying, parish president was saying, coming into people's homes, big problem because it's

so dark out. very hard to be able to get a rescue operation going. it's unclear how many folks did not heed evacuation warnings and did not get out of their homes in the low-lying parish. i want to go to joe riding out the storm in broadmoore which is uptown in new orleans. >> how are you? >> how are you is really the question. i know you're with your family. tell any about what you've been experiencing. >> well, since i was on an hour and a half ago, two broken windows in the house i had to board up. we had water on the first floor but we live on the second floor. i went down and there's water standing water in one part of the house downstairs. >> how much water are you talking about on the first floor? >> there's about 6 inches but it's only in one room. it's kind of starting to creep up so i had had to move a few things. that's our floor where we keep our washer and dryer and stuff

like that. we don't actually live down there. >> give me comparison to what the neighborhood was like in the wake of hurricane katrina? how much water did you get uptown? i know a lot of homes in uptown were spared. >> the closer you were to the river, the better you were. we're probably about maybe 3/4 of a mile from where the water stopped. so we were in the water. we had 6 feet of water in the house. if you go 3/4 towards the river, that's where the water kind of stopped. >> reporter: how are you feeling? the winds are high and we're not far obviously, probably a 20-minute drive or so from where you are. the rain has been a driving rain. we've been watching -- just want to make sure we don't get clocked by anything flying off a tree or coming off a sign. >> right. >> how are you feeling about your decision to stay? >> i still feel fairly good

about it but wish i was somewhere with air conditioning. right now i'm standing on my porch by the front door. it's a nice breeze out here right now obviously. but we got wind driving through some of our windows, even though they are closed because it is hitting the windows so hard, the rain is coming underneath the window. so we're getting a little bit of water in the upstairs but nothing we can't manage. >> when you look out, i assume you have lost power and every one of your neighbors has lost power as well. when you look out your front porch where you're standing, tell me what you're seeing. >> now i'm seeing big branches now from that have fallen from trees and some debris but mostly lots of leaves and now there's big branches that have fallen off the oak trees in my neighborhood. and every once in a while you hear transformers going off. there's still power in the area somewhere because the transformers are popping and you hearhat every now and then.

>> i know you've sort of hunkered down with your daughter and your wife and some other folks as well. how are they doing? >> they are all sleeping. my wife was up with me doing most of the work with the water actually cleaning up the windows but now boarding the windows that have broken. but now i think she went back and took -- she's actually sleeping right now. >> great. >> i'm up by myself. >> what everybody has been calling the wall, that 2-mile really giant wall that is to protect the intercoastal highway from pouring into the city as it did in hurricane katrina. many people felt very confident at that wall which is brand-new at one point $1 billion cost, is going to do revery well in the storm. how do you feel about it? >> i hope it does because if is it doesn't, then we'l have the

same -- similar problem we had in katrina since then the water will get through the industrial canal and could top the levees there. there's still other levees that the water would have to go over. >> right. we're watching that as well. thanks for talking with us. go back to bed. >> you be safe. >> at this point high winds the driving rain, watching where we are as well. he lives in the broadmoore neighborhood of new orleans. we got to check in with our other reporters. we have david mattingly standing by in gulfport, mississippi. david, last i talked to you, the winds are starting to come in. i have to imagine it's much worse in gulfport? >> reporter: it's been pretty sustained tropical storm conditions since midnight. some hours it gets a little worse than others. but we're seeing continuous

bands of rain and wind. we're getting an update because the storm is moving so slowly, they are upgrading the predictions for rainfall along the mississippi coast. before we were looking at maybe about a foot of rain here. now it's been revised upward. 14 to 18 inches possible on some parts of the mississippi coast now. we're also now getting reports that there is flooding some low lying areas along the coast. when we talk about low-lying areas, we're talking about hundreds of square miles. some of those areas are seeing flooding. some of those areas a couple of feet right now. authorities are also reporting that there is water flooding roadways, some roads are closed. and right now water is really the enemy from this storm on the mississippi coast. we haven't even started to talk about storm surge yet. we really haven't seen anything significant with this storm in that regard. but high tide comes at mid

morning here. and that's when we could see problems in some places the surf, high tide coming in perhaps 10 feet of a storm surge at that time. so everyone is still bracing for the worst of this storm and because it is just moving so slowly, it is being absolutely relentless. the longer this goes, the more the problems that they are seeing now will continue to compound and spread. so, we're just going to keep an eye on this and hopefully people will have enough time to get out of harm's way if they find they are not in the place they need to be right now. but authorities were saying they were very encouraged that people were listening to the evacuation orders. they saw a couple of thousand people in shelters right now and right now we're seeing several thousand people with the electricity out and that number is expected to continue as this storm continues its relentless march across the gulf coast here, soledad.

>> david mattingly, reporting live from gulfport, mississippi. thanks, david, appreciate the update. we should mention the overall number we're hearing from -- at usaa, we believe honor is not exclusive to the military, and commitme is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. with our award winning apps that allow you to transfer funds, pay bills or mage your finances anywhere, anytime.

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we're live in new orleans where we're covering hurricane isaac. we're having lots of problems standing as the winds have really picked up and the rain is a driving rain and actually hurts when it slams into your face. we're monitoring the storm's progress. we want to check in with craig fugate. he's in tallahassee, florida. thank you for talking with us, we always appreciate it. here's my question for you. a lot of conversations we've had over the last couple of days, is fema prepared as you see the

storm hitting. how are you feeling about the response of fema and how people have prepared for this storm, sir? >> well, we're in jackson, mississippi right now heading to baton rouge later today. what was really important was the governors of both states that were impacted ordering those evacuations as we've seeing. that storm surge is relentless and people did evacuate. but for a lot of folks, they need to stay inside while the storm comes through. we have resources ready to go but until the winds come down, we're really asking people if you're not somewhere that's dangerous, stay where you're at unless you're told to evacuate. >> mr. fugate, this is zoraida sambolin. we're having difficulty, as you can imagine with the communication there in new orleans. if we can talk more about

particularly plaquemines parish. have you been following the situation there and the situation with the levee and the $14.5 billion, i think that was spent in the area and the president there told us, mr. nungesser, president nungesser, that there was no money set aside for that particular levee and they were just trying to kind of piece it together in order to protect the people in the area. can you tell us anything about that? >> well, again, the area you're talking about, the $14 billion was actually the greater city of new orleans metropolitan area. that was the system that was the reason why the mayor and governor looked at new orleans and didn't order an evacuation there. knowing what they had in plaquemine parish, that's why they did order the evacuations, that nerp not desned for the storms and that's why they were the evacuations. >> i know they are trying to get assistance into that area right now. do you know anything about that, whether or not we know there was one person who was on the roof of a house that is trapped.

do you know anything about that and the situation there? >> no, i don't. a lot of this response is going to be moment by moment. i know that the governor of louisiana governor jindal had his teams ready to go. we had asked people to evacuate. one of the concerns was during the height of the storm it's dangerous to try to reach people. that will affect and slow down the response in the storm moves through but there are teams ready to go. but again, we're in jackson, mississippi, now heading to baton rouge. this is a developing situation, just because the storm has started to make the slow move ashore, doesn't mean the danger is over. it will be increasing as you move inland from additional flash flooding. >> are you in constant communication getting updated? >> yes, as updates come in and again, there's a lot of impacts occurring that are across a large area. and that's why those local officials are doing what they can but i thithink people need

understand, during the height of the hurricane it is dangerous to send teams into areas. they will where they can but the storm will slow down the response until it allows conditions that rescuers can get out in. soledad is joining us by phone. >> mr. fugate, i've been listen to your interview with zoraida -- resources that you sort of -- >> we're having a difficult time with the communication there. i believe i heard the word resources. and so probably what soledad is alluding to, do you have the resources to handle this sustained storm now? unlike hurricane katrina, that went through, this actually is going to last several days. it's causing a major amount of flooding in areas. the storm surges that we've heard about, sometimes as high as 10 to 12 feet. is there a measure for all of that as well in place? >> right. we looked at the populations talking with the states, how many people would be at risk.

we had resources coming in. we more stuff available. the challenge will be, you cannot get into these areas when the storm is still blowing, but resources are ready to move as soon as conditions permit. that's why it was so critical and why in the future people need to understand. when local officials and governors are talking evacuation, it's for this very reason. dangerous conditions and long periods of not being able to get back in. >> mr. fugate, we appreciate you spending time with us. good luck to you, sir. thank you very much. that's it for us on "early start." i believe john berman at the republican national convention. >> i am here, zoraida, him here in the cnn grill and we'll be here all day. thanks for joining us quts "starting point" with soledad o'brien from new orleans is coming up right now.

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good morning, welcome. you're watching a special edition of "starting point," coming right to you from the heart of hurricane isaac. lots to tell you about here, there are more than 400,000 people without power. we also know that the brunt of the storm is hitting with 12 feet of storm surges in some parts. we'll update you on what's happening there. lots to talk you about in plaque mins parish specifically. that is a low lying area. you might remember yesterday they were talking about mandatory evacuations there. today they have an