Katerina

Via BoingBoing, the situation in the area hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina is dire:

I keep getting reports, both media and from friends, that the water is still rising as of 1 a.m. CDT, even though the hurricane has long since cleared the state. Best guess is that it's a combination of tides and currents pushing water over intact levees and through the breached Ninth Ward levee. Also heard some rumors that the worst things right now are animal infestations and downed power lines - alligators in the east bank, mosquitos breeding like crazy, huge balls of fire ants. This is going to get worse before it gets better ... Also, it may be worth noting that the Red Cross needs money donations, blood and volunteers more than anything. I have a feeling a lot of people are going to come back with the "Let's send blankets, clothes and canned foods" mindset that followed the tsunami, but if there's anything New Orleans has plenty of, it's food. They need money, badly, for rescue boats, potable water, generators, axes and other search and rescue equipment.

Donate to the Red Cross.

On an inappropriately unrelated note, why Flickr is important:

That's an image of Katrina posted, as far as I can tell, by the photographer, who was aboard a hurricane observation aircraft. Access to that kind of first-hand stuff, without having it first digested by big media company intermediaries, is going to change the world.