Jamie,

Though it's not firsthand information this is an encouraging report on the topography around Memorial Hall and their movement of artifacts to upper floors when hurricanes approach.

This comes fro Civil War Interactive at http://www.civilwarinteractive.com

Updated at 11 a.m. Wednesday 8-31-05

We received an email from Sam Hood, president of the John Bell Hood Historical Society of Ashland, KY and a member of the Board of Directors of Confederate Memorial Hall Museum in New Orleans.

Sam informs us that he has been unsuccessful in reaching his colleagues at the Confederate Museum. However, he notes,the main gallery of the museum is 8-10 feet above street level and that the Warehouse District where the site is located is not one of the lower areas of New Orleans. The museum's standard hurricane preparations call for artifacts to be moved from the basement up to the main gallery. We have also added to the New Orleans Sites list the home of Gen. John Bell Hood, located at the corner of 3rd and Camp Sts. in the Garden District of the town.

Sam is currently trying to contact the current residents of the Hood house to check on its status, but communication into and out of New Orleans is nearly impossible at present. He also informs us that there are underground mausoleums beneath the Army of Tennessee and Army of Northern Virginia monuments at the Lake Lawn/Metaire Cemetery. Attempts to contact Lake Lawn management to check on the situation has likewise been unsuccessful.

Jim