Any word of damage to the New Orleans streetcar barn? I heard Geraldo ivera say something about streetcars becoming submarines, but not sure if the barn was submersed or what.

Folks,I too was thinking about both the St Charles fleet of old cars and also thenew Canal Street cars and support equipment.It sounds like they will not be running any time soon!Ted Miles

From MSNBC.com:MSNBC staff and news service reportsUpdated: 12:34 p.m. ET Aug. 30, 2005NEW ORLEANS - Already showered with death and devastation by Katrina’s howling winds and drenching rains, the city braced for more misery Tuesday as water poured through broken levees. Details on where the levees had given way were hard to come by, but the most serious breach appeared to be "a large section of the vital 17th Street Canal levee, where it connects to the brand new 'hurricane proof' Old Hammond Highway bridge," according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "The breach sent a churning sea of water from Lake Pontchartrain coursing across Lakeview and into Mid-City, Carrollton, Gentilly, City Park and neighborhoods farther south and east," the newspaper said.

One of the news services showed a picture of Canal Street and as best I can tell, the poles and overhead appear to have survvived, although likely has damage in places where it may have been hit by blowing objects.I am not completely familiar with the geography of New Orleans, but the Times-Picayune blog website says that there was relatively little flooding in the uptown area, but lots of tree damage. St. Charles runs through uptown, but not sure if the carbarn is considered to be in the same neighborhood. It may be a moot point now, because I understand that the efforts to repair the levee are failing and the pumps are likely to be overwhelmed soon. They are predicting a water level of 3 feet above sea level. Anybody know the elevation of the carbarn?

Looking at a USGS topo map online, I see a 5 foot contour line near the barn, but not sure if that is 5 foot above or below sea level.

I found a message buried in one of many forums on New Orleans Times-Picayune that says vandals had "borrowed" a firklift from the streetcar shops. They were using it to assist with looting by breaking through steel gates, etc. on stores.Wesley

Links to aerial photos of New Orleans (I think on the Yahoo Group Philly_Traction) seem to show Carrolton (St. Charles) Station on dry ground and Canal St. flooded.