Katrina - Disaster and Relief - Page 2

This morning, Michael Brown, director of FEMA, said the damage from Katrina is "very, very sobering. And of course the flooding is just everywhere ... New Orleans, all through Mississippi and Alabama. This storm is really having a catastrophic effect," Brown said on CBS' The Early Show. "It's the parishes and wards south and east of New Orleans, it's Biloxi, Miss., and the region," Brown added on NBC's Today show. "All those low-lying areas are just devastated."

In New Orleans, a number of the 10,000 or seeking emergency shelter in the Superdome, slept on the walkway outside the building as conditions worsened inside the 77,000-seat stadium. With the power out since Monday morning and no air conditioning, the air inside is thick with humidity, the smell of garbage and human waste.

"Oh God, fresh air, it's so wonderful. It's the first time I've wanted to breathe all day," Robin Smith, 33, told AP. "When you think what we could've gone through, it's not too bad in there. But it's certainly not as wonderful as this."

"This is just too hot, too primitive, too uncomfortable for the patients and too hard to work in for the medical people," said Dr. Kevin Stephens Sr., head of the medical shelter in the Superdome, where two patients have reportedly died.

Elsewhere, the FAA said airports were closed in New Orleans and Baton Rouge; Biloxi, Miss.; Mobile, Ala.; Pensacola, Fla., and Eglin Air Force Base in Florida

Below is a list of emergency and relief resources:

Federal Emergency Management Agency

FEMA Charity tips

Louisiana Homeland Security

City of New Orleans

Red Cross - 1-800-HELP-NOW

Episcopal Relief & Development - 1-800-334-7626

United Methodist Committee on Relief - 1-800-554-8583

Salvation Army - 1-800-SAL-ARMY

Catholic Charities - 1-800-919-9338

National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster

Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Updates and more on Katrina here.

Article Author: Eric Olsen

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