5 pm EST UPDATE

Still Category 5, will still be category 4 inland. Pressure dropping (bad) some wind decrease to 165 MPH winds (good - but insignificant.)

Pictures up on CNN of people streaming into the Superdome which is 9 feet below normal sea level! They will stay in the upper seats but the ground and bottom levels should be well underwater. Other concerns that the major pumps around New Orleans will be underwater and not able to work.

Google News Latest.

Gasoline prices already at new high.

Katrina 'Perfect Storm' for higher energy prices. (New Orleans area news servers and cell phones being swamped by users.)

My opinion and observation- with size of storm the steering currents are having less effect and all the updates keep nudging the path a bit West of previous forecasts.

Bush made an OK speech urging people to evacuate but spend more time talking about the 'progress' in Iraq. This as all the Sunni leaders denounced the constitution as illegal.

ADDED - Slidell, just north of New Orleans says storm signs beginning, we expect a bad evening. National Guard has line of people 2.5 miles long for ice.

Interesting variety of non-hurricane news and opinion.