I lived in Huntwyck Village off Hwy 190 in Slidell from 1982 to 1997 and relocated to San Ramon, CA (east of San Francisco Bay) in Dec. '97 due to job transfer. I still have many friends in Slidell and in the New Orleans metro area. I could not reach them by phone or email. How bad is the situation in Huntwyck Village, Lake Village, Crossgate and the area on the Airport Road north of I-12 in Slidell? I also have elderly friends living in Pearl River off Hwy 41. Have you heard anything out of Pearl River? Among the 5 TV news stations in the Bay Area that cover Katrina and its aftermaths, only abc7news.com had a more detailed live reporting from Eden Isle by Mark Mathews on Aug. 31. I had friends living in Eden Isle before Katrina. To see the devastating damages on the homes and buildings caused by the winds and tidal surges in the town where I had lived for 16 years was heart-wrenching. I googled for Katrina-related news coming out of Slidell for long hours but found very little of it. However I found wwltv.com has an excellent blog with minute-by-minute updates on Katrina aftermaths by Tom Planchet. WWLTV website has a Northshore link for news about St. Tammany Parish and Slidell.

I am actually from Slidell, and I made it out right before the second levee broke in new orleans. Airport Road and I-12 area has very little flooding, but as is everywhere in Slidell, there is alot of powerlines down and lights. Asuming the second levee didn't flood Slidell to much more. According to a friend that I talked to today, the water has receded and residents can now return to see the damage. The flooding wasn't bad North of Gause, but there was a lot of wind damage. Almost every power line was down, and trees snapped in half. There were a lot of houses that had structural damage due to trees. I don't imagine the phones will be up anytime soon. Good luck, I hope this helps.