Wizbang’s Paul, a New Orleans resident, provides a statistical overview of the severe damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina from the discomfort of the roof impaired Superdome. While not as severe as the cable news talking heads predicted (hoped?) the devastation was nonetheless massive.

Other coverage:

• New Orleans Filling With Floodwaters Due to Breached Levee (WaPo)
• When can I go home? Relief efforts under way for those stranded by storm (CNN)
• New Orleans a city of rising water – Flooding traps residents in their homes (CNN)
• Katrina leaves millions without power in U.S. Gulf (Reuters)
• CATASTROPHIC (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
• Floodwaters rising, devastation widespread in Katrina’s wake (CNN)

Amazing.

Clearly, the hype was warranted and saved countless lives. It didn’t turn out to be mere “hurricane porn” this time. Still, I must agree with Glenn Reynolds that, if cable news didn’t take a carnival barker approach to weather, people might have taken the warnings even more seriously.