this could be ground zero for this hurricane. this area as well as a town called houma, not far from where i'm standing. if you look behind me here, emergency officials are hoping and betting that this floodgate could be one of the main courses of defense against water overflow in this area. it was built after katrina. it's higher than most of the levees in and around the parish. the levees in and around the parish stand at about 12 feet. as you've heard from some of the predictions, storm surge could be up to 15 feet. that is why this area is under a mandatory evacuation. houma also under a mandatory evacuation, population there about 34,000. when i was speaking to emergency officials about those mandatory evacuations, he said his belief is that most of the people who live south of this floodigate, e believes many of the people there have evacuated, many but certainly not all. >> lot of people since earlier