We have all followed the increasingly depressing news from the devastated Gulf Coast, watching as parts of New Orleans slowly disappeared under the slowly rising flood waters. News now has it that New Orleans, a city of 485,000, is to be fully evacuated and remain empty for as long as four months as federal and state officials struggle to repair levees and suck water out of the bowl-shaped city. DCist can only ponder the toll the storm and its aftermath is having on city residents who, on top of having lost loved ones and property, are now to become internally displaced — refugees in their own country. How would we feel if it were our streets and homes submerged in water? Our thoughts remain with those along the Gulf Coast.

Local Rescue Workers Arrive in Gulf Coast Region: Close to 70 rescue workers from Fairfax and Montgomery Counties have arrived and set up bases along the Gulf Coast, which is reeling from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, reports WTOP. The search and rescue teams are slated to help in what may become one of the largest relief efforts in the nation’s history, and are part of a group of 18 similar urban rescue squads that have been deployed for what will initially amount to five days of relief operations.

Area Gas Prices Rise in Katrina’s Wake: Gas prices in the area are fast approaching or in some cases surpassing the $3 mark, writes the Post. The increases — 88 cents at one station — have been caused by increasing global oil prices and supply disruptions caused by Hurricane Katrina’s ravages along the Gulf Coast. Manassas’ gas stations remain the cheapest in the area, while Silver Spring’s rank among the most expensive.

Metro to Operate Trains Manually: Recognizing that running train cars with open doors may be threaten the safety of area commuters, WMATA officials have ordered train conductors to operate the fleet’s newest train cars manually, notes the Post. The decision comes in the wake of an incident Tuesday where an automatically-run train pulled away from Metro Center with a door remaining open, forcing passengers to communicate the problem to the conductor via intercom. The problem is one more in a series of technical mishaps with 192 train cars purchased in 1992 from CAF Inc., a Spanish company, and delivered last year at a cost of $383 million.

District Students Score Lowest on SAT: Students in District public schools have the lowest SAT scores in the nation, reports the Examiner, averaging 968, 60 points less than the national average. While school officials have not commented on the dubious distinction, parental income and race may serve to explain the low scores. Maryland students averaged 1026, while Virginia’s scored 1030.

Briefly Noted: Maryland official disagrees with renaming of BWI Airport … GW students will no longer face disciplinary action for alcohol-related hospitalizations … Maryland to purchase more controversial electronic voting machines … Cindy Sheehan traveling to the District, slowly … Two more candidates in Maryland Senate race.

Picture above snapped by GreenBeanKillah.