Hurricane Gustav left trees and debris littering many streets, in and around New Orleans, but for the most part, homes have shingles. And while power is out in most places (from my estimate of the two power companies in Louisiana there are about 800,000 customers in the dark), water flows from taps, streets are dry and so far there is no threat of levee failure.

There was a rumor at some point of a Lafourche Parish levee break that somehow made its way to President Bush, who had an aide on the plane to call the Army Corps of Engineers headquarters in Washington, D.C., to ask if there was any truth to the tale.

Gov. Bobby Jindal said it is too early to raise hopes that evacuees from New Orleans will be able to return home Tuesday after Hurricane Gustav moves through, even though the brunt of the storm is aimed at a corridor stretching from Port Fourchon to Lafayette.

The full extent of the damage in Cajun country is not totally clear. For the last fifty-ish years the bayou communities have watched their land disappear at one of the highest rates of erosion thanks to oil drilling, hurricanes, levees and dams. These factors leaving no natural buffer against storms. So, I have scattered nerves until I can hear more from my folks down that way. The last messages were a couple of hours ago saying, for the most part, things were "intense."

At 10 a.m., Gustav was 10 miles southeast of Morgan City, La. and moving northwest at 15 mph. Top winds are at about 105 mph. This puts Gustav about 65 miles from both New Orleans to the east and Lafayette to the northwest. The center of Gustav will continue to track along the south central Louisiana coast this afternoon, and move into western Louisiana tonight and eastern Texas on Tuesday.

And here is something to really watch for: tornadoes. They are still possible over the central Gulf coast today.

Mayor Ray Nagin said residents may be able to start returning to the city within 24 to 36 hours after tropical storm force winds subside. This, of course, depending on the damage. He says, "We are not out of the woods."

In New Orleans a group of eight tugs have broken loose in the Mississippi River in St. Charles Parish and are heading toward New Orleans, posing a hazard to navigation, according to the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard has sent out two e-mails about the barges, one that warns other vessels that the eight barges are floating free on the river.

As the hurricane moves further inland, the broad path of the storm plotted by the National Hurricane Center showed it likely to pass through the towns of New Iberia, Baton Rouge, Houma, Morgan City and Thibodaux.

I have folks hunkered down in most of those places. More to come on that.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Gustav hit just before 8 a.m. Monday near the community of Cocodrie, the heart of the state's fishing and oil industry.

What I'm hearing:

Lafourche Parish: It's blowing here quite a bit. Our generator came on at 5:40 a.m. All we are really getting right now is pretty high winds. Raining but not like what they said it would. We have had 110 mph winds before, but not this steady. Has been like this the last hour. I think it's going to blow like this for hours. Broken branches and shingles off the house. If that is the worst, we are okay.

Baton Rouge: Our power is out. And the wind is blowing now. Our big oak trees are falling. A tree just hit our neighbor's house, I think. You hear a creak and you don't know what it is, it's so unsettling.

New Orleans (when asked about the Industrial Canal levee topping): Don't know what to think, but it's unsettling.. .

A small river of water is rushing down North Robertson Street toward Poland Avenue, apparently coming from the Industrial Canal floodwall. Water is overtopping for several hundred yards on the Upper Ninth Ward side of the Industrial Canal on both sides of the Claiborne Avenue bridge. Still developing. . ...

The Army Corps of Engineers says the federal flood protection system that surrounds New Orleans should hold up as Hurricane Gustav hits west of the city.

This directly contradicts the report by MSNBC that a top FEMA official warned that the surge will likely overtop levees and at least partially flood the city.

MSNBC has this: As Hurricane Gustav steamed toward the Louisiana coast early Monday, a top FEMA official warned that the surge will likely overtop levees and at least partially flood the city that was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Not another source that I can find has that information.

My trusted media source: That's the same agency that reported Gustav as a Cat 5. . . . forcing the NHC to publicly correct them. Lots of people out scouting every report for any validity, nothing being confirmed yet ..