There is some confidence that all the money spent on new, higher flood barriers and gates will make this strike less damaging. There was so much "confidence" that mandatory evacuations were only issued for areas outside the protected perimeter (although it was also said that time was a factor, and they didn't want to hopelessly clog the roads.) Also, apparently people have gotten the message and got the hell out--the roads and the airport were jammed. The flow meters on the Mississippi showed that the river reversed course because of the storm surge. The wind is going to be bad, and the storm made landfall at the main port for the oil rigs in the Gulf, which means that gas prices are going up for a while in the U.S. A lot will depend on how fast it moves and how much water it dumps. The water in the Gulf is very warm this time of year--good for hurricanes. Some parts of the state--the low-lying areas in the delta--are "likely to be uninhabitable for months", mostly because of flood damage and the height and force of the "storm surge" from the ocean. Last time I looked, almost 400,000 people are without power. The hospitals jammed with COVID patients (lots of antivaxers in Louisiana) were not evacuated, and staff are going to live there and use generators until the power comes back on and the roads are clear. The halls are being utilized to avoid windows. It's a hell of a thing.
One thing that shocked me was that the emergency services said that people who are staying should plan to be on their own for three days--no one will be able to get to them.