Excellent Post from Clark's Blog on Flhurricane.com

understand what he is saying here is that IF New Orleans gets this it will be akin to having a F2 Tornado ..sustained winds. Read.. he is one of the best over there. Ed is good too. Read:
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Clark Meteorologist Reged: Sep 10 2003 Posts: 955 Loc: Tallahassee, FL
Regional Impacts from Katrina #51470 - Sun Aug 28 2005 11:19 AM
http://flhurricane.com/cyclone/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=metblogs&Number=51470&Searchpage=1&Main=51470&Words=&topic=1&Search=true#Post51470 * Southeast Louisiana, including Lake Ponchatrain and New Orleans:This is the expected landfall region as of this time. The storm is likely to reach the shore of the state as an intense category 5 hurricane with winds anywhere from 160-185mph. Coastal flooding along the coast due to storm surge is going to be a major problem anywhere to the east of where the center of the storm makes landfall and along all sides of the shore of Lake Ponchatrain. The storm will not lose much, if any, intensity between the coast and the first 50-60mi inland due to the nature of the land. On the projected path, category 5 strength winds will be felt in the city of New Orleans itself; this is akin to an F3 tornado over a span of 25-50 miles. Widespread destruction of a catastrophic nature is quite possible as the storm passes across the city; gusts over 200mph -- in the F4 tornado range -- could result in structural failure to many of the buildings within the city. Flooding will only exacerbate the problem as the storm passes. Many roads will be impassable for weeks, if not months, and services to many parts of the city may be out for a similar length of time.Simply put, if you are in this area, you need to get out.