Hurricane Katrina - Where to Donate

UPDATE: I have created a permanent link on the sidebar to this page. As new relief effort links go online, I'll add them to this page which will be easily accessible from the sidebar under HURRICANE KATRINA - WHERE TO DONATE: To Donate and For More Information on Relief Efforts

Where to Donate

From the Washington Post

A variety of government and private agencies are en route to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina, and federal officials said people wanting to help should not head to the affected area unless directed by an agency. Instead, Michael Brown, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, urged people to make cash contributions to organizations. Cash donations "allow volunteer agencies to issue cash vouchers to victims so they can meet their needs," he said.

FEMA listed the following agencies as needing cash to assist hurricane victims:

· American Red Cross, 800-HELP-NOW (435-7669) English, 800-257-7575 Spanish.
· America's Second Harvest, 800-344-8070.
· Adventist Community Services, 800-381-7171.
· Catholic Charities USA, 800-919-9338.
· Christian Disaster Response, 941-956-5183 or 941-551-9554.
· Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, 800-848-5818.
· Church World Service, 800-297-1516.
· Convoy of Hope, 417-823-8998.
· Lutheran Disaster Response, 800-638-3522.
· Mennonite Disaster Service, 717-859-2210.
· Nazarene Disaster Response, 888-256-5886.
· Operation Blessing, 800-436-6348.
· Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, 800-872-3283.
· Salvation Army, 800-SAL-ARMY (725-2769).
· Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief, 800-462-8657, Ext. 6440.
· United Methodist Committee on Relief, 800-554-8583.
-- Associated Press

For More Information

Terry Teachout from About Last Night provides the following.

Here's a list of bloggers who've been posting from/near/about New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, current as of 3:30 p.m. EDT on Monday, August 29:

Anonymous Sportaholic

Poppy Z. Brite "We are at my mother's house in central Mississippi. We bugged out at 1:00 this afternoon, battening down the hatches as best we could and bringing only our dog and our oldest cat, Colm, who requires daily medication. I'm absolutely sick about the ones we left behind, ashamed of having abandoned ship, and doubtful that I will ever see my home again...."

Josh Britton (frequent updates from Louisiana) "People need to stay where they are and not try to reenter zones hit by the brunt of Katrina. Governor Kathleen Blanco says that only Official Emergency Units will be allowed to enter the New Orleans area, no one else will be allowed. Search and rescue teams will be dispatched soon. No deaths reported now, but a few heart attacks have been reported...."

CrabAppleLane

DeadlyKatrina.com

Electric Mist "We lost power about 10 a.m. this morning. Got the generator up and running and just realized the DSL is still good, so I'm able to post....We're running the refrigerator, the TV and the computer on the generator. We have propane and a grill for cooking, and we have water for a few days...."

Eyes on Katrina "If you are thinking about getting in the car and coming back to South Mississippi, don't. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency is telling people who have evacuated to stay away until the roads have been cleared and the National Guard is in place. If we get word when that happens, we'll pass it along...."

Ken Foster

Steve Gregory

Rex Hammock

Harmony St. Charles

Hattie's Blog (frequent updates from Mississippi) "Local weather stations are saying now that Hattiesburg will get the ever-spooky eye wall with up to 100 mph winds...."

Hurricane Harbor

Hurricane Katrina

Insomnia (frequent updates from New Orleans) "So, the feeling seems to be that the worst is over, but now that the eye of the storm has passed over New Orleans, they'll be facing the tail end of the storm. Winds and rain should be less than that experienced earlier, but the question is whether already damaged structures will collapse and whether the levee system will keep Lake Pontchartrain from being whipped up and blown into the heart of New Orleans. Obviously, there has to be some concern for the Superdome too, which has already had significant roof damage...."

Izzy Mo's Blog

John's Online Journal "The wind is really picking up now and I hear the roof above me wobble. The sound is like a waterfall or rushing river...."

Katrina Blog (WDSU)

Katrinacane's Friends "My building was just on the news—all the windows broken out. The skyscrapers in the CBD look like a bomb went off—no windows, some smaller buildings collapsed. On the net there are reports that the first floor of the downtown hospital is under water (which is rising now the storm has gone thru). All the windows are broken out of the first five floors...."

Kaye's Hurricane Katrina Blog (frequent updates from Louisiana) "I still have the wind tunnel at my front door & am without power but I am happy to report that it is not raining. No need to worry about me because I do not plan to go outside any time soon. Especially since opening my balcony door revealed there are still strong winds out there...."

Brendan Loy (frequent and detailed updates from Louisiana) "Barring a major last-minute wobble, it does now definitely appear that Hurricane Katrina's eye and eyewall will pass just to the east of New Orleans, thus sparing the city the worst of the storm...."

Michelle Malkin

Jeff Masters "Katrina continues to move northwards and accelerate through Mississippi. Katrina is now a Category 1 hurricane with 95 mph winds, but still causing massive storm surge flooding, tornadoes, wind damage, and rain water flooding. Numerous tornadoes continue to be spawned out of Katrina's spiral bands, and the National Weather Service is also issuing tornado warnings for 'destructive winds near 110 mph in the eyewall and inner rain bands of Hurricane Katrina'...."

Metroblogging New Orleans (frequent updates from Louisiana) • "Some people were reportedly trapped in attics. You'd think everyone would know by now, BRING AN AX TO THE ATTIC. I don't care if you're in Nebraska. If you go into the attic, you bring a damn ax...."

Overtaken by Events "I think I can safely speak for most people when I say, 'Attention Media People! Go inside, we aren't impressed with your bravery, we just think you're stupid to be standing outside while large pieces of buildings and trees are flying around....'"

paultwo

Pitch & Green

a small victory

Storm Digest (frequent updates) "Resident Chris Robinson said via cellphone from his home east of downtown that 'I’m not doing too good right now. The water’s rising pretty fast. I got a hammer and an ax and a crowbar, but I’m holding off on breaking through the roof until the last minute. Tell someone to come get me please. I want to live.'..."

What I Tend to Believe "I can't imagine this storm taking another ten hours to finish passing through...."

Workbench
As of Monday afternoon, this was the Web's fullest listing of stormbloggers.
Some other artbloggers who posted on Katrina:

Killin' time being lazy

Maud Newton

Rifftides

More links:

Here's a link to the AP's national wire, to which Katrina-related stories are being posted around the clock.

Here's a page of Katrina-related e-mail received by the BBC and updated regularly (courtesy of Instapundit).

Also by way of Instapundit, here's an aggregrator page of Katrina-related bloglinks. (A few of the blogs on our list are now starting to show up on this page as well.)

This is the best list of institutional links we've seen so far.

Here's what appears to be a fairly comprehensive list of links to New Orleans webcams (plus various other institutional links).

Here's a permalink to the complete text of "Devastating Damage Expected," Sunday's apocalyptic National Weather Service dispatch ("Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks...Water shortages will make human suffering incredible by modern standards").

Here's a transcript of a 2002 radio documentary detailing a worst-case scenario for Category Five hurricane damage in New Orleans. (It's really, really frightening.)

And here's a feature from the Times-Picayune on the same subject. (This one will make your hair stand on end.)

To make an online donation to the American Red Cross' National Disaster Relief Fund, go here.

* * *

Finally, a personal word from Terry to all those bloggers posting from the Gulf Coast, and everyone else who was caught in the path of Katrina: we New Yorkers know about disasters, and our hearts are with you. May the world reach out to you as it did to us.