earlier in the week new orleans mayor mitch landrieu declared an emergency over there.ernor jindal also announced the state laugh la is shutting down the oyster grounds until the storm is over. let's bring in one of the largest seafood providers. to be transparent here, we would tell you that he's running for lieutenant governor of louisiana. billy nun gasser. i know you've been watching the foreclosu forecasts closely. what are your concerns this. >> our concerns are with 15, 20 inches of rain projected, this sits over one area, populated area for any length of time will see severe flooding. we're hoping to get breaks in between the bands and give the pumps a chance to catch up. that's our main concern as well as the levees that have been authorized by congress. the corps is not starting construction on them. 3.5 feet levees that we're expecting to be close to over the top in the middle of plaque um's parish. >> what about the ones that are already there. how concerned are you when it comes to potential storm surge? >> we've had those levees, we saw a breach and during

mayor mitch landrieu says the pumps are all working but the city cannot breathe easy yet in the big easyikely to cause headaches as it heads for the northeast. jacqui jeras joins us now. labor day could be a washout for a lot of people. you have been busy following fires, tornadoes. >> you basically have to live out west if you are looking for a nice holiday weekend. it is not good along the east coast. lee is a depression now. the winds are weaker. it doesn't really change anything. this is an inland flood maker. that continues to push to the north and east. it picked up forward speed. it will be hovering across the deep south and a lot of roadways will be flooded. we also have the tornado threat so make sure you have your noaa weather radio on tonight. it's dark outside. you can't see. we have had a little bit of damage in mississippi. we have had damage from the cold front coming from tornadoes. look at the video we got in. this is incredible. this is in upstate new york. it's in a small town called cranesville. the tornado crossed the new york thruway and caused quite a bit of damage

evacuations have begun just in case and the mayor of new orleans, mitch landrieu, he'll be holding a news conference as they are all watching this disturbance as well heading precariously closely to their government line. we'll keep an eye on all of it and let's move on to some other news. moammar gadhafi, a la saddam hussein, is threatening to plunge his country into a drawn out civil war, but did you know it is 42 years to the day since a much younger gadhafi seized control of libya in a military coup. now presumably on the run but apparently still alive, gadhafi is extorting supporters -- exhorting -- excuse me, exhorting supporters to fight to the death. here's his message. this was aired today on a syrian tv station. >> translator: go. use -- use the guns. go and fight an fight and we're going to fight from one place to the other, from town to town, until we show them that this battle is going to be very long and then they will regret. you want a long battle? we are ready for them. you want war? you've got war. >> you get war as you just heard from moammar gadhafi purportedly. w

in fact mayor mitch landrieu of new orleans has urged residents to clean storm drains and open up catch basins. >> the city of new orleans is taking all necessary precautions as i said earlier today i issued a declaration of emergency so we could have as much flexibility and authority to act as quickly as possible. >> reporter: in the wake of katrina, they spent $14 billion shoring up the flood protection system, this includes repairs to the floodgates, the levees and the pumping system and also making sure they have got strong enough floodgates to stop a storm surge from lake pontchartrain. back to tropical storm lee, a very slow moving system. here's that forecast now going over the next couple of days, and we're talking about a lot of rain as it jogs toward the coast, it's expected to move onshore sometime tomorrow or on sunday. spot some spots could see as much as 10 to 20 urges of rain. and it will cause flooding. but because down here on the gulf coast it's flat and we do have sandy soil, we're not going to see anything like that we have seen in the past week following hurricane i

mayor mitch landrieu telling residents to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. we have fox team coverage right now. casey stegall on the ground in new orleans. meteorologist maria molina tracking the storm in the fox extreme weather center. first, we go to meteorologist maria molina. >> right now the center of the storm system is 40 miles southwest of morgan city, louisiana. the center of it is starting to approach the bay. that is something to keep an eye on. this is large. if you look at the satellite, rin over central portion of mississippi and thunderstorms firing up offshore in the yucatan peninsula. this is a large storm system and a slow-mover. plan to see up to 20 inches of rain locally. generally speaking we are looking to 10 to 15-inchs of rain there is report that seven inches have fallen across southeastern louisiana and it will continue through monday because the center of the storm will be a slow-mover. this isn't exactly bad news for the gulf coast states. we are currently under a drought across the state here. but when you get that rain in a shor

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 as the water go down to go fishing again. >> reporter: well, no one is bringing out their fishing rods just yet. the storm watch continues along the gulf coast all the way from texas to the florida panhandle. the tornado watch is still in effect for south louisiana, and a thunderstorm is now moving over new orleans metro. back to you. >> charles hadlock in new orleans, thank you. a check on where the storm's headed from the weather channel's alex wallace. alex, you heard thunderstorms coming into new orleans. where do things stand now with lee? >> it's slowly moving, alex. this thing doesn't want to go anywhere any time soon. the latest stats on it. sustained winds 45 miles per hour, tropical storm, 50 miles

mayor mitch landrieu says despite some flooding, all 24 of the city's storm pumps are working.nly about 200 homes in the city are without power tonight. >>> the former head of the >>> the former head of the international monetary fund dominique strauss-khan has arrived back home in paris. this less than two weeks after sexual assault charges were dropped against him in the u.s. a judge threw out the case against stras khan citing credibility issues with his accuser. a maid at a hotel where he was staying back in may. his troubles are not completely over though. he still faces a civil suit from that woman and another woman in france, a journalist, accuses him of attempted rape. >>> those are the headlines. i'll see you back here at the top of the hour. and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. that's yours. lower cholesterol. lower cholesterol. i'm yummy. lower cholesterol. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste? honey nut cheerios. want whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. it's a win win. good? [ crunching, sipping ] be ha

mayor mitch landrieu says despite some flooding, all 24 of the city's storm pumps are working.homes in the city are without power tonight. >>> meanwhile, president obama today got a firsthand look at the damage caused by last weekend's big storm, hurricane irene. he toured hard-hit areas in northern new jersey where irene's torrential rains caused the passaic river to overflow. the president offered moral support and government aid to people struggling to recover from that storm and he said the people hit hard by irene will not be forgotten. >>> the former head of the international monetary fund dominique strauss-khan has arrived back home in paris. this less than two weeks after sexual assault charges were dropped against him in the u.s. a judge threw out the case against stras khan citing credibility issues with his accuser. a maid at a hotel where he was staying back in may. his troubles are not completely over though. he still faces a civil suit from that woman and another woman in france, a journalist, accuses him of attempted rape. >>> in italy, the sister of the woman th

new orleans' mayor mitch landrieu. >> this storm is one of the stranger ones that we've had and how unpredictable it's become. all of the experts have said these rain bands continue to hover around it. >> reporter: which is why the army corps of engineers activated one of its three main pumping stations in new orleans built after hurricane katrina. excess rain water is pulled from the city and dumped into nearby lake ponchartrain. but in the coastal community of lafitte outside new orleans there are no pumps, and the water keeps rushing in. with an evacuation order in effect, dorothy ordered a high- water rescue truck to escape high waters gushing into her trailer. you were trapped. >> i couldn't get out. trees were falling and everything. it was horrible. >> reporter: tropical storm warnings remain in effect from eastern texas all the way to the florida panhandle. charlie, here in new orleans the rain may not stop until monday. >> osgood: thank you. just days before the 9/11 anniversary, the associated press reports the federal government has alerted law enforcement agencies nationwide about a p

but the mayor of -- mitch landrieu of new orleans yesterday was talking about they had gone through thend backup generators that control those pumps and everything is working fine. here in new orleans, obviously with the levee system and canals a lot of this is making sure you can just pump the water out as it comes in. and they seemed confident yesterday they will be able to handle that. having said that, you know, just too much rain falls we've seen in areas here throughout the central business district of new orleans where you've seen rain fall and then you get about a foot of water on a street and come back in an hour and the water is gone. clearly that pumping system and that system for moving the water out of areas seems to be working. but that's probably what you're going to see. might take time for the water to go down. so far here in new orleans, everything seems to be holding up well. >> all right. ed lavandera there for us, thank you as always. just a couple minutes past the top of the hour. say good morning to alexandria steele keeping an eye on this storm for us. you told m

new orleans mayor mitch landrieu said sometimes you get what you ask for.han we needed. if it forms lee wowould be the 12th named storm of the season. that as another storm, katia, brewing for days in the atlantic, could become a major hurricane by this weekend. though so far it's believed it's not on track to make landfall. hurricane irene did not bring the wind damage that people had suspected or feared, but it did bring tremendous amounts of rain and flooding similarly to hurricane katrina which didn't do that much damage in terms of wind but flooded that area of the gulf coast. we're seeing a similar recipe developing now. heavily densely populated areas, lots of wind, very possibly devastating floong. matt gutman, abc news, miami. >> let me tell you, i lived in new orleans for ten years, it does not take a lot for that city to flood badly, even during a heavy rainstorm let alone a tropical system. you heard matt say 20 inches of rain, the storm drains can't keep up with that. it could be a real disaster there. >> i guess because this is such a slow-mov

the mayor, mitch landrieu, joins us on the phone.ou could be looking up to 20 inches of rain in some areas. what are you most concerned? >> anytime we have a potential heavy rainfall over a short period of time and that turns into a potential water event for us. there could potentially be flooding. one of the things of most concern is that this particular depression is for the most part unformed, but it's very close to us. so the governor and the parrish presidents, they are prepared, of course, and you talked earlier to the corp. of engineers, and when it gets wet in a short period of time the water events can become significant. >> with the governor there declaring a state of emergency, what specific preparations can you do right now? what is under way? >> well, first of all, of course, we have been through this many times and we learned a lot from katrina and ike and we have very specific protocols that we follow, and storm gates are being closed and sandbags are being filled, and we're making sure we're in full communication of e

. >> reporter: since taking office in 2010, mayor mitch landrieu is addressing these alarming statisticsamerican men killing other african-american men at a level of violence that's unnatural. what's unique about what's going on now that didn't go on ten years ago, 80% of these individuals know each other. some of it is drug related but it is not gang related. evidently we have a whole generation of young people who have learned how to resolve even the slightest difference by a violent act. >> reporter: peter sharp is a criminologist and tulane university's school of public health and has researched this issue for years. his studies show some residents have become accustomed to violence. >> murder is normal. kids walk around the yellow tape to school. tlp sneakers of dead kids hanging between the buildings so it became part of the culture of some neighborhoods. it's just true. >> reporter: who's responsible for making sure those young men are safe? >> it's everybody's job. it is a problem that starts in the home. it's a problem that continues through the school. it's a problem where peop

. >> it's mayor mitch landrieu. louisiana governor jindal has declared a state of emergency. it was six years ago this week when hurricane katrina came roaring through that city. boy, we've got pictures to show you what it looks like but i don't think anybody is going to forget that. >> i don't want to see that picture anymore. no good memories from that. >> jennifer delgado tracking this system, live from the extreme weather center in atlanta. what's it looking like? i saw you giving these forecasts a little earlier with carol and it looks -- never seen a storm forecast like that. >> yeah. you know, the problem is we don't have any steering winds to push tropical depression number 13 anywhere and over the last several hours it's really been kind of basically stationary. you can start to see more convection popping towards the south and southeastern portion of the storm. you can't pick out a center of circulation. the rain working into parts of louisiana, gusts up to 45 miles per hour, sustained winds at 39 or should say 35 miles per hour. now as i show you the trek, ali, thi