Katrina Hurricane Disaster: Videos, News, and Links

While watching the destruction in the Gulf Coast on CNN this morning, I received an e-mail from a reader who explained that her relatives in the affected area were able to get to safety.

But she was concerned for people searching for news of relatives still in the middle of the disaster.

If you're in that spot, here are some links and Web pages to help you get current information.

The best site is WWL-TV, a local CBS New Orleans TV station. Start with the streaming media live video feed. (If the feed stops, click the player's pause and then play button.)

The WWL-TV set isn?t professional, (they're temporarily broadcasting from a sister station in Houston), and the hosts often look tired. But there's lots of live and recorded video, and plenty of information. For instance, they're constantly blogging to their local news page. And there's a valuable Are You Okay? forum to leave a message for relatives; you can also post on their Searching for Someone forum.

Two other live feeds (complete with commercials) are available as streaming media. The first is from WJTV in Jackson Mississippi; the other is from WKRG in Mobile, Alabama. The feed from WDSU in New Orleans is on again off again, though they have a handful of videos, and some have been recently updated.

The Salvation Army's Team Emergency Radio Network is accepting requests for information on the welfare and status of loved ones in the hurricane area. Fill in the form on the Health and Welfare Information Request page.

For local information in the New Orleans area, check the Town Forums on The Times-Picayune's home page. Scroll to "What's Happened to My Neighborhood?" at the bottom and click the on a specific city. Also check the flhurricane for tons of valuable links.

If you have a copy of Google Earth, grab the overlays available at Google Earth Hacks. Among other things, you?ll be able to see images of the collapsed I-90 bridge and other hurricane-related spots. And my colleague Bud McLeod points us to a map containing markers with text about ground conditions from people who live in New Orleans and the surrounding area. It's up and available here.

Don't put extraneous text and markers on this map. It's intended to provide useful information about real conditions in the Big Easy.

Finally, find a way to send a couple of bucks to help the disaster survivors. There are many charitable organizations, and you probably have a favorite. The one I?m sending my money to is the Red Cross.