Donating and updates

Below is the official site to donate to the Red Cross, which has set up shelters across Louisiana and Mississippi. I got to it from their homepage, www.redcross.org, but to keep up with demand, they have asked Yahoo to donate a separate page where people can donate to the hurricane relief effort. They have boxes where you can donate as little as $10. Here is the link:

http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate/

Carl from Baton Rouge reports:

Right now I am trying to separate fact from fiction.
The stories circulating around Baton Rouge are becoming more frightening by the hour, but it's unclear which, if any, are true.
So much is unconfirmed right now, including reports that dozens of buses carrying refugees from the Superdome to Houston stopped at an outlet mall in Gonzales, two-thirds of the way between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, and that people got off the buses and began urinating and defacating in the parking lot.
Every community along I-10 right now has growing tension.
If a million people must abandon the greater New Orleans area and surrounding parts, they have to go somewhere. Baton Rouge is one of the first places they can stop.
People here want to help, and they have been. People here also want to circle the wagons and protect their own.
fear this is only beginning.
LSU's athletics facilities are now being used for helicopter landings, medical triage and shelter. Sports information office workers helped carry body bags into the baskeball arena. The place could be a staging area for dead bodies for weeks.
Every business in town that has power has long lines and overflowing parking lots.
Right now, I feel lucky to have power, but I wonder what life is going to be like in the coming weeks and months.

Note: It is apparently true that a random guy came upon a school bus in Louisiana and drove a bunch of people to the Houston Astrodome. They were allowed in.