On Sunday the National Weather Service warned the storm could leave the low-lying city uninhabitable for weeks. More than one million people could be left homeless. Officials are warning that the storm could topple the city’s levees and canals leading to mass flooding and the possibility that New Orleans will be turned into a toxic lake filled with chemicals and petroleum from refineries, as well as waste from ruined septic systems. As a precaution, the Waterford nuclear plant near New Orleans has been shut down. Oil and refinery operations in the Gulf of Mexico have also been closed prompting the cost of a barrel of crude oil to pass the $70 mark for the first time ever.