Looks like the Twin Span is not quite as "gone" as was reported this morning. Photos show otherwise intact segments of the northbound span shuffled in places like fallen dominoes, but the southbound span largely intact. Er...sort of. The deck is intact, but the integrally-cast concrete guardrails have been...removed? If you look closely at the photos, it looks like someone scraped the railings from the deck with a dull knife...the deck is flat all the way across now. How the heck could something that weird happen?

I haven't seen any pictures yet, but I've heard that I-10 on the west side is in similar condition where it goes around the southwest side of the lake. The Causeway was described as intact, but damaged, and only open to emergency vehicles (naturally).

ADDENDUM: GAH. Olbermann just described the Twin Span as the "Causeway".

ADDENDUM (Wednesday Morning): Just saw some new video showing the Bayou Sauvage area at the south end of the Twin Span. Flooded out, of course, but I'm surprised anything there is still standing at all considering where it is. The "castle", in particular, is still standing. Jazzland is flooded out but there didn't seem to be any obvious structural damage (collapsed rides, destroyed buildings, etc.) -- it was a very short clip, though, so who knows. Getting closer to Michoud but still haven't seen it.

One of the levee breaks appears to be in the canal at the Orleans-Jefferson line in Metairie, close to the lakefront, on the Orleans side. The bridge at the lake end of the canal appears to be blocked either with debris or with material being used to block the flow. Some of the new video includes a pass eastward along I-10 from the south side of the freeway, looking north. The watertower is still standing, the neighborhoods and the Vets area are of course flooded.

Miles O'Brien is now in Slidell, which is the first report I've seen from there. While the video shows some flooding and mud accumulation from receded water, Slidell doesn't have the standing floodwater that New Orleans has, and appears to have more wind damage (broken limbs, downed power lines, trashed signs, peeled rooves) than water damage.

And now they're back to the Superdome fixation. Why do they keep showing aerial shots of the Superdome? There's nothing new to see there.

Here is the latest Michoud Assembly Facility status from NASA as of this afternoon (8-30-05):

MICHOUD ASSEMBLY FACILITY (MAF):
* No injuries reported at MAF
* First priority is to take care of the NASA families - civil service and contractors - affected by Hurricane Katrina. Assessing their needs and working to provide logistical support and resources
* Working with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through NASA HQ to support those affected by the storm
* Working to ensure the facility is protected - provide additional security support
* Limited transportation, communication in the area
* Preliminary damage assessment - roofs damaged, windows damaged, leaks, high-bay door damaged, power lines, down, trees/limbs in roadways.
* Five barges are stranded on top of levee along East Side of facility, some concrete cracks evident in levee.
* At this time it appears space flight hardware at the facility wasn't damaged, however a preliminary damage assessment hasn't been complete yet.
* MAF communications are getting better, but still far from normal. There may have been significant damage to the fiber network.
* MAF damage assessment will be started in earnest today. Ride out teams are tiring and must cope with thedevastation of their homes and family concerns.
* MAF will remain closed through at least Wednesday

I'm hearing that MAF is actually expecting to reopen next Tuesday, not the day after tomorrow. Which is equally laughable, given the inaccessibility of the site...not to mention any damage that might result from the still-rising weather.