Hurricane
Information and Resources
MusicBizAdvice.com extends its heartfelt sympathies to the
victims and survivors of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. Here is some
information you might find helpful.
If you
cannot reach family members who were evacuated from Hurricane Katrina and
Hurricane Katrina or have not registered with a safe list to let family and
friends know you're OK: CNN
has a
Safe List on their website for people to let their families know they're
OK. You are also encouraged to register with the
National Next of Kin Registry, which is
used by emergency services agencies in many areas. The
Red Cross can assist as well but are
understandably deluged with requests, so help them out by utilizing the
above resources in addition to their
KatrinaSafe.org safe list (which handles Hurricane Rita survivors as
well). You can also contact the Red Cross safe list by phone at
1-877-LOVED1S.
Information on specific areas of New
Orleans can be found at the blog
at NOLA.com. At this site you can
also read many personal stories. Just be aware that as it is relatively easy
to submit information to this blog, a lot of the information has not been
verified.
To help
the victims of Hurricane Katrina, donate to the Red Cross at
www.redcross.org
or call 1-800-HELPNOW . The need for
financial assistance for this disaster is especially great because according
to the Greater New Orleans Community Data
Center, which keeps track of Census data for the New Orleans area,
95% of children of children under
age 5 in the flooded parishes already lived below the poverty level before
Hurricane Katrina struck. Therefore, it's expected that many of the
victims could not afford insurance of any kind.
In addition to financial donations,
the Red Cross also needs blood donations and volunteers in their own local
chapters across the US to assist with tasks that were done by volunteers who
were dispatched to the Gulf Coast. To Find your local Red Cross
chapter, go to the Red Cross website
and type in your zip code. (Please be patient; their website is
overwhelmed.)
Other great organizations who need help include
Habitat for Humanity, which will be
involved in helping rebuild homes, and
Best Friends, which has been instrumental in helping and reuniting pets
of hurricane victims. Oprah Winfrey also has an easy to use registry on
Oprah.com called the Katrina Home
Registry, where you can purchase household items online for hurricane
victims (or even sponsor an entire house).
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