Downed power poles, no land lines, and suspended cell service is making communication with the states battered by Hurricane Katrina very difficult. NBC 15's Natalie Swaby caught up with some people in Madison who have family in those areas.

Rooftop rescues, flames that firefighters can not get to, and highways that are now waterways, it is all happening close to the city William Bagayoko calls home.

Bagayoko has family there and says, "I've tried to call them, my house number, nobody is picking up, the cell phone service is down in Baton Rouge."

At a Tuesday afternoon press conference, Green Bay Quarterback Brett Favre expressed similar concerns, saying, "I haven't been able to get in touch with mom or my two brothers, grandmother, all my family members down on the gulf coast. In my gut I feel like they are okay, but with each minute that passes, I begin to wonder."

One Madison mom is lucky enough to know that her daughter, Annie Flanagan, dodged the devastation. The college freshman showed up at Tulane University just as evacuation orders came down, and was able to rent a car and make it to higher ground.

Maureen Flanagan says, "people really are stranded, poor people who have no where else to go, and I just feel lucky and fortunate and almost guilty that it was relatively easy for us."

But for Bagayoko, a University of Wisconsin junior and soccer player, it is a game of wait and see.

"We survived Andrew, Hurricane Andrew, a few years back, so I am pretty optimistic that nothing happened," he says. "I am pretty confident that my parents and family know what to do."

Bagayoko's family is suppose to visit Madison this Friday to watch him play in a soccer game. He will keep trying to make contact with them.
Also, NBC 15 received word this evening that Brett Favre has since heard from his family, they are all okay. But the family home that his mother lives in will probably have to be bulldozed.