CNN at 3 a.m.

3 a.m. and I'm wide awake. The TV in my room doesn't have a remote, so I've just left it on CNN and it finally woke me up. The latest news is less grim: G took the slight westward jog that the Hurricane Center had been predicting, and he seems to have weakened to a strong 2 or weak 3.

I am very concerned about the West Bank of the city and Jefferson Parish, and perhaps even more so about the low-lying communities south of Houma, like Galliano and Dulac. The wetlands that once extended far into the Gulf and served as buffers have been severely eroded over the decades. The main culprits? Oil exploration, drilling, and pipelines, which have meant cutting into the swamps and hastening their erosion, and, ironically, flood control systems such as levees, which have prevented the natural restocking of the wetlands with river silt. Oh, and that pesky little global warming thing.

Now I see that someone from CNN is reporting from Grand Isle. Grand Isle??? Did no one check the projected storm surge map?

Update: WWL-TV is doing a live stream on their website. Soooo much better than CNN. And Lee Zurik just gave props to Matt McBride!