[Soledad O'brien:] You could see it there, the latest advisory now has Hurricane Rita still a category five hurricane. Very, very powerful. Winds now 170 miles an hour, down from 175. Still a massive storm that is chugging along straight for Texas. A tropical storm warning is in effect for the southeastern parts of Louisiana. Of course, they're watching this storm very closely and they're watching the levee system very closely as well because they're trying to prop up that shaken levee system. Let's get right to Carol Costello. She is right on the border, I guess, between Jefferson Parish and Orleans Parish. Really, that's Lake Pontchartrain right behind you. Big concerns there this morning. Carol, good morning.
[Carol Costello, Cnn Correspondent:] Big concerns. And where Lake Pontchartrain meets the 17 Street Canal. And just a mile down the way is where that huge breach occurred in the levee that the Army Corps of Engineers has been feverishly working to fix to protect, you know, the city against Rita. Yesterday I was at the evacuation site at the convention center and they had this place set up where people could go to catch buses out of town. Frankly, not many people showed up. Maybe 50 or 60 over the course of a few days. People still have the opportunity to leave, but the military is ready, the city is ready with buses to take them out of town. I got a chance too, yesterday, to sit down and talk to Lieutenant General Russel Honore one-on- one.
[Costello:] Lieutenant General Russel Honore arrives at the convention center by helicopter, hitting the ground early to prepare for Rita. Hi, General Honore. I'm Carol Costello from
[Cnn. Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, Cmdr., Joint Task Force Katrina:] How you doing?
[Costello:] He agrees to a sit down. He hasn't much sleep lately. The good news, the evacuation plan is going pretty good, but slowly.
[Honore:] Those that are here are many of the same ones that never left. So they're pretty resilient. And the National Guard will continues to make contact with them.
[Costello:] Some did leave, but not many. Who are they?
[Honore:] They seem to be residents. I saw a man just now you know, a man with a suitcase, and able-bodied but we've got to go through the same process. You know, see if he needs medical care, if he wants some water or food and put him on the bus. You see the buses over there are loaded up, ready to go.
[Costello:] The guys in tents here, your guys in tents, when will they decide to evacuate and where will they go?
[Honore:] We'll be going to cat five level buildings, this being one of them, and we have some over at Bellchase and we have the airport and we have Hamler.
[Costello:] They're going to go inside the convention center?
[Honore:] Well, it's a misnomer. This is the front of the convention center. Behind the convention center is an entire new portion of it. It is a big building. It's a mile long. And only about a half of it were used in the previous evacuation.
[Costello:] Because, you know, you see the guys in biohazard suits in there. And the thought of anyone going in any part of the building is, frankly, scary.
[Honore:] I saw you reporting that this morning. I was trying to call you to tell you to turn this way.
[Costello:] We got the message.
[Honore:] At this point in time we need to keep things simple. Everyone of my up to one time 14,000 troops, 300 helicopters and 40,000 National Guard troops know where this spot is and most of the citizens of New Orleans knows where that is. If we change that in the middle of this evacuation, a lot of stuff has to change. But right now it looked like we might dodge this bullet we may get just some rain and some wind. And if the current prediction hold, we'll continue to be able to do enabling tasks here in the city. There's a lot of work left to be done and with a category five storm, you're going to lose the first quarter. I don't care how good you prepare, your stuff is going to get messed up. It's going to win.
[Costello:] And we hope stuff doesn't get even more messed up today with Rita out there. Not anywhere near the city of New Orleans right now but the wind is picking up. It was raining early this morning and people are pretty nervous. I want to bring in now Doctor Jullette Saussy, the director of the New Orleans EMS. Come on closer to me. Thank you for coming out to talk with us.
[Dr. Jullette Saussy, Director, New Orleans Ems:] Good morning, Carol.
[Costello:] Because I know you must be exhausted.
[Saussy:] We've been working pretty hard, but I'm happy to be here.
[Costello:] Well, we're glad you're here. The 911 system. I mean, how up and running is it?
[Saussy:] Actually, they've been working over the last several days to get it up and running. And we feel very hopeful that it will be fully functional today.
[Costello:] So if I called 911 right now, would I get someone?
[Saussy:] Right now they the calls have been going to Baton Rouge and then being sent here. So the minute it's online, when you call 911 here, it will be routed here locally.
[Costello:] What kind of calls have you been handling?
[Saussy:] Well, we really, our call volume is quite small, as you can imagine. Most of the city is not there. So the calls we've been handling have been for holdouts, basically, who have decided that they want to leave or somebody has found somebody who has stayed in their home and so we've been dispatched there to pick them up. Certainly calls for other health care workers, first responders, minor trauma, heat-related illnesses.
[Costello:] Dehydration.
[Saussy:] Dehydration, absolutely.
[Costello:] Because it's hard to get water to drink in the city, right? In fact, you can't drink the tap water now.
[Saussy:] You can't. No, you cannot.
[Costello:] A lot of people are here fixing the city of New Orleans, electrical workers, construction workers. How will you handle that if Rita becomes a real problem?
[Saussy:] In terms of taking care of them?
[Costello:] Yes. Is there a hospital up and running, for example?
[Saussy:] Actually, the 14th Combat Support Hospital is in the process of setting up. We, again, are very hopeful that it will be fully functional late today or early tomorrow. We've been working very closely with them and are looking very much forward to having that resource here in Orleans Parish. We have other local hospitals outside Orleans Parish that have are seeing patients, have emergency capabilities and...
[Costello:] But no trauma center, right?
[Saussy:] No level one trauma center. But certainly the local community and the surrounding communities have stepped up and have provided the services that we've need. And with this the advent of this combat support hospital, we feel like we'll be able to take care of the trauma.
[Costello:] Rita is coming and probably will hit Texas. A lot of people are leaving to help people in Texas. A lot of people that help you. How concerned are you with that?
[Saussy:] You know, again, I think we had a meeting with our group last night. And despite the incredible losses that our group has suffered, I was so incredibly proud. The questions were not about, what about me, they were about can we go to Texas and help. So my answer to that is, we know what Galveston or the coast of Texas is getting ready to experience. I understand the shifting of resources. I also understand that there are still needs here. So I hope that they will, you know, utilize the resources they need in Texas but resources will remain here for us. And I hope that given the opportunity that we can go in and help them.
[Costello:] Doctor Jullette Saussy, thanks for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.
[Saussy:] Thank you, Carol.
[Costello:] And good luck to you.
[Saussy:] Thank you.
[Costello:] You'll need it. Back to you, Soledad.
[Soledad O'brien:] Yes, they sure will. Carol, thanks. Still to come this morning, victims of Katrina about to get a little more help from the IRS. Andy has a look at that as he minds your business just ahead.