Please help, by donating any amount of money you can afford.

• http://www.redcross.org/ - Due to the high volume of phone calls, donating online is the easiest (and secure) way to donate today.
• Amazon.com - Authorized Donation Site for Red Cross
• Best Buy - All stores around the country are accepting Authorized donations for Red Cross
• Hard Rock Café – All locations are accepting Authorized donations for Red Cross
• Salvation Army - A $100 donation to The Salvation Army will feed a family of four for two days, provide two cases of drinking water and one household clean-up kit, containing brooms, mops, buckets, and cleaning supplies.
• Habitat For Humanity - Will be building homes and shipping them down to New Orleans and surrounding areas, to replace homes that were lost. You can help by donating money, or donate time and assist in the building of houses over the coming months.

On August 29th, the United States of America was forever changed by the most severe natural disaster ever to hit our country.
Images courtesy of CNN/AP

Katrina began as a simple tropical storm, like hundreds of others, in the Atlantic Ocean south east of Florida. This is hurricane season, and our coastal towns, from Texas to Florida, and up the east coast, are quite used to the storms, and are well-prepared for them. Florida has seen some very serious, and deadly hurricanes over the years, and its unique geography puts it at risk every summer, but the people who live there are aware of the risks, and know how to get through them.

But this week, the unimaginable happened. Katrina, which first hit south Florida on August 25th as a category 1 hurricane, (killing 7 people) gathered strength as it moved into the Gulf of Mexico, and became a Category 5 hurricane, only the fourth in US History. Look at the photo above, and you can get an idea of the amazingly huge scope this storm had, it was nearly as large as the entire Gulf of Mexico. The eye itself, was over 150 miles wide.

On August 28th, the entire City of New Orleans was under Mandatory Evacuation notice. People were ordered to leave, at all costs. The NOAA and Hurricane Service had been watching this storm develop and grow in size and strength, and the predictions were a direct hit on New Orleans, prompting the Mayor to order Mandatory Evacuation.

However, thousands upon thousands of people did not, or could not leave. Over 15,000 refugees streamed into the Superdome on Sunday, looking for safe shelter, unable to get out of town. Still others honestly believed that the damage would not be that bad. New Orleans has had many "near misses" over the years, and its residents have become used to threats and storms. Mandatory evacuations were ordered for many other areas as well, both in Louisiana, and Mississippi. Meteorologists were not kidding around this time, and they urged the government and state officials to take notice of this storm, and get people out ahead of time. Train, bus, and air travel was suspended starting early Sunday, and soon there was literally no way for people without a vehicle to leave the city.

Katrina roared ashore, the eye of the storm hitting the coast of Mississippi, near Gulfport/Biloxi. Winds over 140 mph continued for hours.

In 1969, Hurricane Camille hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast area, and was a devastating category 5 storm which caused over 7 billion dollars in damage. But even that storm, which technically was stronger than Katrina, could not compare to what has transpired now in our southern states. Camille killed 143 people, and another 113 died as a result of the aftermath of the storm. That storm, which up until last week, was the most devastating natural disaster on record, is dwarfed by what is happening now.

Katrina may have been less powerful, but she was far more deadly and costly.

Hyatt Regency in New Orleans - Windows blown out of all floors, damage from wind inside rooms, roof damage, etc.

Katrina did turn, at the very last moment, and had been downgraded (just barely) to a Category 4 storm at landfall, so while New Orleans was spared the very worst of the initial storm, the city was far from being out of danger. While the initial reports from the press who covered the storm in New Orleans showed a city that was damaged, yes, but certainly not hit hard, streets were dry, people were alive, and the entire country breathed a sigh of relief.

But then, the levee system failed. Billions and billions of gallons of water flowed into the city at an alarming rate, and literally washed away homes and people. In parts of New Orleans, the water currently sits over 20 feet high, and has completely submerged many homes and trailers. Thousands of people who had stayed in their homes were forced out, or trapped. The Superdome saw thousands upon thousands of more refugees seeking shelter, over 55,000 people went to the dome, thinking it was safe. But it too, was failing. The roof was ripped to shreds by the storm, the power was out, the sewage system was not working, and what was supposed to be a place to evacuate to, quickly became somewhere that thousands of people needed evacuating from.

As of September 2, 2005:

Over 20,000 People are missing.

Over 700 people are confirmed dead, with thousands more estimated to be in the city of New Orleans, under water, or in rubble of the other towns that were obliterated by the storm. The death toll could go over 2,000 or more by the time the final calculations are done.

Hundreds of people are STILL waiting to be rescued, and are without water, food, clothing, or sewage facilities. There are a great many little towns and rural areas that were hit by this storm, that have been completely overlooked in the rescue efforts that have been going on. People are still trapped in their homes in the flooded city of New Orleans, living in the attic, or on the roof, with no way to get out.

Power is out for over 4.5 million people, in 4 states. Full power will not be restored for many weeks, if not months.

Running water, sewage, gas, and basic services that are needed for human life are gone in the majority of these areas, and will not be restored/repaired for months.

Entire communities were leveled. Literally nothing remains of some homes, stores, office buildings, hotels, casinos, but rubble.

Some buildings were literally lifted off of their foundations, and thrown around like twigs, landing on top of other buildings or homes.

The levee system in New Orleans, designed to protect a town that sits below sea level from Lake Pontchartrain, and the Mississippi River, failed in multiple places. Breaches in the levees brought walls of water rushing into the city.

Over 80% of New Orleans is now under water, and the ramifications of this are simply staggering.

The once vibrant city, which was home to over a million people, must be fully evacuated because of the severity of the health risks posed by this flooding situation. People do not fully comprehend what is going to happen there, and how severe the situation would be if they stayed behind, or if they go into the city. The National Guard is not allowing the Red Cross into the city to help, because it would encourage people to stay, and it is simply far too dangerous to stay in this stagnant soup of toxic water for any period of time.

The draining of the city will take months. Literally. For months, water will be standing in the streets, homes, and buildings. The water is literally a toxic mixture that has never been seen before in this country:

• Chemical plants are flooded, and oil is leaking out from homes, factories, buildings, and oil storage tanks. Oil is leaking into the Mississippi River from huge storage tanks. The capacity of the tanks is over 3.3 million gallons.
• Coffins have been unearthed by the savage storm, and are floating in the water, leaking formaldehyde, and human waste.
• Sewage systems are not functioning, and are mixed in with the standing water already in the streets, in every area of the city.
• Bodies of those unfortunate souls who died in the storm, or in the aftermath, are floating bloated in the water, or sitting on the side of roads, inside buildings, and every single day that goes by adds to the dangers of disease.
• Bodies are still buried, covered, or in buildings that are still inaccessible by recovery teams.
• Roads are washed out, bridges are gone, the ability for assistance to get into the city is hampered and limited, and there are still people who are trapped in their homes, who have been without food, without water, without a clean place to sleep, and the resources are simply not great enough for the need.
• Hospitals, morgues, and companies that handle or process dangerous chemicals are destroyed, those substances mixed into this water flowing through the streets.
• Insects, vermin, bacteria, fungus, parasites, and other hazards are breeding, even as we speak.
• Diseases such as West Nile, Cholera, Typhoid Fever, Dysentery, Hepatitis A, E. Coli, Encephalitis, Cryptosporidiosis, and a variety of other severe, horribly infectious threats could be seen, and there is a severe potential for a pandemic health crisis like never seen before in this country.
• An outbreak of Dysentery has already been reported in Mississippi.

The CDC has stated that this could become one of the worst infectious disease issues in our century, if not the history of the United States.

Federal disaster declarations blanketed 90,000 square miles (233,000 km²) of the United States, an area almost as large as the United Kingdom.

The cost to rebuild these cities, towns, and parishes cannot be fathomed at this time, but it is well over 30 billion dollars in "insured" losses, and estimates are that number is half what the total damage is, and the longer New Orleans is underwater, the more damage will be sustained.

CNN's Safe List: CNN's list of people who are confirmed safe

Red Cross Safe List

FEMA - Federal Emergency Management Association

FirstGov.gov - Resources for victims, families, or those wanting to help.

National Next of Kin Registry: The National Next Of Kin Registry (NOKR) is a new high-speed solution to locating your Next Of Kin in urgent situations. NOKR is designed as an emergency contact system to help if you or your family member is missing, injured or deceased. NOKR is a free service to the public as well as the Local and State agencies using the search service.

New Orleans based "I'm Okay" Bulletin Board: New Orleans channel 4WWWL-TV will post messages for family members.

Satellite Images: - Images of New Orleans, Before and After 80% of the city was flooded.