Inmates in Templeman III, one of several buildings in the Orleans Parish Prison compound, reported that as of Monday, August 29, there were no correctional officers in the building, which held more than 600 inmates. These inmates, including some who were locked in ground-floor cells, were not evacuated until Thursday, September 1, four days after flood waters in the jail had reached chest-level.

(Aside from this article, there have been several reports form individuals that the bars of the cells, which are designed to pop open in power outages, had been locked closed with handcuffs. -- Ed W)