Little update from here, we heard from my brother (FINALLY!) not too long ago. He ended up leaving about 6 a.m. Sunday and drove to Austin, TX with a friend (the friend has family there). Haven't heard any updates from him about where he was living (he was more or less in the French Quarter), but when Katrina moved slightly east, I think it helped protect New Orleans in general from much greater devastation (thankfully).
On another note, insurers are reportedly saying that the damage from Katrina could "top 25 billion," making it the worst on record if it does (Andrew is the worst on record, with 21 billion present-day dollars of damage). I got that useless statistic from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4195018.stm
Glad to hear that people are safe and doing OK, I'll keep fingers crossed that things are OK in New Orleans, that there will be something useful to go back to.
Thanks for the thoughts about my brother, too, guys.
/tk