he is in jean lafitte, louisiana. how bad is it where you are right now? >> you know, the wind has not been an issue at all today. and the rain has been -- when it does fall, it comes in bands. they've been much more sporadic today. we had a significant rainfall this morning. since then it's been a little bit like this. but the problem here in this town, this is just south of new orleans, if you look over here, all of this is water and this is say common scene around as you drive through the main road coming into town. and the reason all this is happening if you look in the distance where that orange barrier is over there, that is the intercoastal highway, the waterway, that takes water from the gulf of mexico and winds its way back in towards new orleans. all of this is being caused because the winds are pushing towards the north. that is pushing water through the waterway up through the canals and back and it's spilling out into these neighborhoods in jean lafitte, louisiana, south of new orleans. what's happening, seems typical like this, water is threa

we're in the town of jean lafitte, south of new orleans.een coming down strongly here. our satellite signal isn't able to punch through the rain and clouds to get us up on live television. very difficult situation. this is what officials here have been talking about, the storm is still out there, much of the rain still offshore waiting to make its way on. this is one of the longer lasting rain bands we've seen over the last day or so. we're here in jean lafitte because this is an area that's seen mandatory evacuations in parts of towns where water has crept up into various communities. that's forced officials here to set up a long series of sandb s sandbags. they've used makeshift levees called tiger dams, long tubes they fill up with water to keep the water from the intercoastal waterway from getting into more homes. they continue to watch the situation. as long as the winds keep coming from the south keep pushing the water up north, the tidal surge is the main concern and what's causing inland flooding. we continue to monitor this through

he's in jean lafitte, louisiana, near new orleans. set the scene for us where you are. >> reporter: good afternoon, alina. jean lafitte is south of new orleans, on its way down to the gulf of mexico. if you look in the distance, you'll see an orange sheet on the horizon. on the other side of that, this that is the intercoastal waterway. to the left takes you down toward the gulf of mexico. to the right it winds back in towards the city of new orleans. the problem here isn't necessarily wind, which has been minimal or the rain. it's actually been tidal surge. as this storm slowly crept inland, the winds shoot out to the south. all this water is getting pushed up through here. this is already a low-lying area. the water is getting pushed out of the waterway into these neighborhoods around lafitte. mostly what we're seeing is homes where the water is threatening to go inside. and what they need here, accord together jefferson parish president, they need the winds to shift and start pointing toward the south. what you need ultimately is y

. >> reporter: a dozen homes are flooded in jean lafitte, south of new orleans, and thousands more threatened. >> we're not evacuating because evacuation route is pretty much basically underwater. my wife has a small car and we can get. >> reporter: forecasters fear lee could dump 20 inches of rain along the coast. this is one of the dozens of pump stations at the ready. new orleans is five to ten feet below sea level. any amount of rain that falls here has to be pumped out. the fear is this storm could bring more rain than the pumps can handle. for now, the pumps are working, and the levees rebuilt since katrina are holding. >> we've got a break in the rain right now. >> it's doing fine. >> reporter: matsch e. mitch landrieu says the city is keeping a watchful eye on the slow-moving storm. >> this is sitting there and it won't make up its mind what it wants to do. you have to be very, very careful. >> reporter: but back in the bayou, where they're used to this flooding, curtis is taking the storm in stride. >> cleaning everything off, waiting for it to come back, we'll pick it up the worms a