Katrina Makes Landfall

Heads Toward Low-Lying New Orleans With 150 MPH Winds, Many Flee

(CBS/AP)  Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore early Monday and charged toward the low-lying city of New Orleans with 150-mph winds and the threat of a catastrophic storm surge.

A mandatory evacuation was declared Sunday for the New Orleans area.

"It was exactly the right thing for the mayor and governor to do," Federal Emergency Management Agency director Mike Brown told Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith.

Katrina edged slightly to the east shortly before making landfall near Grand Isle, providing some hope that the worst of the storm's wrath might not be directed at the vulnerable city. Martin Nelson, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center, said the northern part of the eyewall came ashore at about 5 a.m. central time.

Electrical power at the Superdome failed at 5:02 a.m., triggering groans from the crowd. Emergency generators kicked in, but the backup power runs only reduced lighting and was not strong enough to run the air conditioning. Overall, 370,000 Entergy customers were without power Monday morning as the hurricane made landfall.

Conditions in the city were rapidly deteriorating shortly after landfall, reports CBS News Correspondent Cami McCormick. The winds were blowing the rain sideways, and there was a low rumble, as powerful wind gusts slam into buildings. It sounded at times like a jet engine. Those who remain behind were hunkering down.

"Our people are sturdy people, strong people. We've dealt with storms before," Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco told CBS News Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm. "We know we're going to lose some property. There will be extensive damage but we will rebuild. We have confidence in ourselves and know we can restore property we can't restore lives."

President Bush issued rare "advance" emergency declarations for Louisiana and neighboring states, reports CBS News White House Correspondent Peter Maer, and federal agencies were moving relief supplies to areas closer to the storm zone. Thousands of national guard troops are at a staging center in Memphis. A nuclear power plant near New Orleans shut down and the government was monitoring two other facilities.