Got this from a friend in Baton Rouge:

Here's an update from Baton Rouge. While we suffered very little damage from the hurricane here, the aftermath of what happened in New Orleans has hit us pretty hard. In less than 48 hours the city doubled in size; BR is now the largest city in the state! Services are still out in a large portion of the parish and things are getting a little crazy. The refugees who arrived without anything have bought out most of the grocery stores in town. Even cellular phone service is questionable, but I've made it through a few times to Mama and Daddy back in [location omitted].

The university has been turned into the search and rescue headquarters and the campus buildings are being used by both refugees and various relocated NO organizations. The dorms are packed with students' family members with nowhere else to go. Classes at the university are supposed to start up again on Tuesday, but it's possible that the semester may be cancelled completely like those at the NO schools. We still aren't sure how many students or faculty will be returning and as of now, classroom space is limited. Many of us have considered heading back to our respective home states, but the gas stations are now out of gas and having trouble getting shipments in.

I live between campus and downtown and there is the almost constant sound of sirens. The looting and civil unrest you've seen and heard about in NO is now happening here as the city continues to swell. A group has apparently started pillaging in the downtown area and we have been advised to stay inside with doors and windows locked after 7pm.

Of course, tensions are extremely high all around as we try to figure out what to do. Right now I'm housing a friend and her boyfriend who both lost homes in NO and don't know when/if they will be allowed back in. As of tomorrow, I'm devoting my time to volunteering with the hundreds of displaced animals; there are too many volunteering with the human shelters already.

Thanks to all of you who e-mailed to check on me. I'm hanging in there and would very much appreciate your prayers!

Terrible. I have a friend in Houston who's going to send pictures this weekend if she's able to volunteer at the Astrodome; she wants me to post them here.

Cooper and Emily of Been There are providing a way to get donations of supplies to families once they're in temporary housing. Hopefully they've got some readers in Baton Rouge, Houston, Atlanta, etc. who can run these goods to shelters, as I'm sure the temporary housing won't have computers and internet connections. Emily instructs:

If you have something to offer, respond to this post with what you have (and please be specific, for example if you have toys, say for what age group, how many, what sort of condition they're in). Families in need are invited to respond to your post directly.

Also, in comments to the post at Been There, Isabel answers a question I'd had for a while. What if you don't have any money, but you have goods you'd like to donate? I called the local Red Cross and the Salvation Army, but they're not taking any goods. Isabel wrote:

2) Goodwill Industries of Houston is accepting and distributing donations of goods. I spoke to the CEO, Steve Lufburrow, who personally assured me that packages marked for Distribution for Families of Hurricane Katrina will be distributed to families. They particularly need children’s clothing, goods, and diapers as Goodwill normally does not receive those goods. You can send your packages to:
Mailing Address
5200 Jensen Drive
Houston, Texas 77026
Phone and Fax
(713) 692-6221
fax (713) 692-0923
http://www.goodwillhouston.org

UPDATE: Lauren posted the address of another organization that's accepting goods.

UPDATE: FYI, I spoke to Goodwill in San Antonio, and they are not accepting goods.

I hate not having cable. No, wait: I hate the fact that television stations have been ignoring the hurricane disaster since Bush's speech earlier. Here's what's on TV right now where I am:

Ch. 2 (public television): Clifford (that red cartoon dog)
Ch. 4 (CBS): Dr. Phil
Ch. 5 (ABC): Ellen
Ch. 9 (FOX): Montel Williams show
Ch. 11 (NBC): Access Hollywood
Ch. 23 (WB): some cartoon
Ch. 29 (UPN): Yes, Dear

It's driving me nuts.

I know that gasoline will help people get out, and these two are not mutually exclusive, but still: Is anyone else watching Bush's speech? How much time did he spend talking about the people? How much talking about the oil industry?

Nice little crossover here, should appeal to many of you.

Hey, you know what? I have never seen or read the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It's terrible, and I'm as ashamed as I should be.

Via de.lirio.us.