Reply #82: When I talked to the lady at the TV station in Baton Rouge,

[AnnInLa]

she said that FEMA officials were getting NO communication in and out of Washington Parish. There are trees down on all the roads, and Washington Parish is one of the "black holes"...meaning that there are numerous communities that are isolated, without communication and without transport in or out. It's just that most of what you see on TV is New Orleans...but, the other communities out there have not reported in to anyone, and no one can get in. The best info I could get was from a fly-over of Covington and Mandeville, which are near Franklinton and Pine. Said there was tremendous damage from trees, but only a little flooding in some neighborhoods. Did not see people on the roofs or waving them down from the yards, roads, etc. She did say to perhaps expect bad things out of that parish because they are almost due north of New Orleans and took almost the same amount of wind and rain. Surely, officials and FEMA are working to get into these "black hole" communities...or, are all the resources being focused on N.O. and Biloxi/Gulfport? My niece and her hubby are trying to reach the Sheriff Dept and the man with whom Sarah is staying by phone, but they can't get thru....they will keep trying.