Local community websites have sprung into action to assist hurricane Katrina survivors with everything from blankets to offers of shelter in their homes.
With cell and land-line phones mostly down, the web has emerged as a champion amid the wreckage. E-mail, instant messenger and blogs have proven lifelines for communication.
In relief efforts, too, the internet is proving invaluable, as websites have become hubs for putting badly needed goods and services directly into the hands of people who need them most. Where organizations like the Red Cross discourage anything other than financial donations, sites like craigslist allow people to meet up with victims for face-to-face aid. Craigslist users have flooded the New Orleans site with offers of shelter and comfort.
“The wonderful people of the art forum have banded together to send me care packages, donations and gift certificates since losing my house in New Orleans,” wrote one aid recipient in thanks to craigslist, signing her post simply as Shanna, formerly of New Orleans. “I have nothing left except for what fit into a Dodge Neon, and these strangers have opened their hearts to me.”
In addition to material aid, the craigslist New Orleans’ site has emerged as a key source of information for those seeking word of missing friends and relatives.
“Ellis Anderson of Bay St. Louis is OK!!!” reads one heartening post. “A friend called her parents today who told her she’d ridden out the storm in her house in BSL and survived!” But the vast majority are queries for any word of specific individuals.
Craigslist founder Craig Newmark says he first noticed Katrina-related postings on Tuesday afternoon and has since put up links to organize the postings. “We had one similar experience with 9/11,” he said of the outreach. “That was a matter of hours, but it was more intense, obviously.”
According to Newmark, page views on the site were up four times the normal amount on Tuesday, and where community-based forums such as “lost and found” see a few posts a day, Tuesday there were well over a thousand.
By Keith Axline