Yikes. This is hitting right in my home area. I've lived all along the MS and LA coast there. It didn't get much press, but Katrina obliterated a lot of the MS coast. I really miss living there, but I definitely don't miss hurricanes. Everyone down there is an amateur meteorologist and people here in St. Louis look at me funny for checking the weather all of the time. Force of habit I guess.
Fortunately most of my friends have either moved in land or are outside of the worst of it. I think Biloxi is better suited to handle this than New Orleans, which has had a ton of flooding issues lately. I know a bunch of people who work in local GIS(mapping) and emergency management. I'll be they're scrambling with how fast this thing popped up.