Rising Death Toll; Levee Breaches in New Orleans

(CNSNews.com) - FEMA Director Michael Brown on Tuesday described the flooded Mississippi Delta region as a "very sobering scene,"as rescue and body recovery efforts continue amid reports of two or three levee breaks in New Orleans, where the water continues rising. On this day after the storm, the death toll stands at 55, most in Mississippi, and it will go higher. Brown told NBC's Today show that low-lying parishes south and east of New Orleans were hardest hit, and it will be "weeks and weeks" before people can return to what's left of their homes. Brown said the best advice is for people to be "very, very patient." He said getting people back into their neighborhoods will be a "very long and difficult process." President Bush has declared almost all of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi disaster areas.