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A massive interfaith effort is under way to feed Hurricane Katrina evacuees at large-scale shelters in Houston, including the George R. Brown Convention Center. The plan is not final. But organizers expect religious groups to raise an initial $4.4 million for 30 days of food and to supply 720 volunteers a day to provide and serve three hot meals to many thousands seeking shelter in Houston. "I do not view this as a faith community issue," said the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church, which will participate in the effort and other relief projects. "This is...

CUBAN President Fidel Castro has offered to help the United States, by sending 1,100 doctors and medicine to treat the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Some 100 doctors could board a flight to Houston, Texas, as soon as today and 1,000 could arrive tomorrow and the day after, Castro said in a radio and television address. Cuba would also send 26.4 tonnes of medicines. "Cuba is ready to help immediately," he said. "We offer concrete things, doctors to the site of the tragedy, which is exactly what is missing now." Castro said a diplomatic note containing the offer was sent today...

NAVAL HOSPITAL JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (NNS) -- Eighty-four medical personnel from Naval Hospital (NH) Jacksonville, Fla., boarded buses to Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., Sept. 1 to rendezvous with USS Bataan (LHD 5). From there, the ship will sail to New Orleans to provide urgently needed support to relief efforts for Gulf Coast residents impacted by Hurricane Katrina. The medical personnel, including a broad range of physicians, nurses and hospital corpsmen, are assigned to one of the hospital’s deployable platforms, Casualty Receiving and Treatment Ship Team (CRTS) 8. Bataan is one of several Navy ships deployed to the hurricane relief effort....

MOSCOW, September 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is waiting for the United States to confirm its readiness to accept assistance from Russia in dealing with the aftermath of the natural disaster that hit New Orleans, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday. "Besides concerns about the fate of our nationals, we again confirmed to the American leaders our readiness to render humanitarian and other assistance in the efforts being made by American authorities, including equipment to search for people under debris, installations to purify and desalinate water, medicine, and other things that may be necessary," Lavrov said. The minister said...

Smoke billows from a fire(rear) rages in downtown New Orleans. US authorities ignored warnings that New Orleans was vulnerable to a hurricane nightmare and slashed funding that could have saved the city as spending on the war in Iraq soared, experts said.

Within 48 hours of the tragedy, with news reports still estimating that "20,000 people are feared dead," the U.S. Pacific Command was already establishing a joint task force to coordinate and conduct humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations. Access approval was requested, and quickly obtained, from the Thai government to allow its massive Utapao Air Base to serve as the regional hub for the relief effort. Meanwhile, U.S. defense attaches were arranging overflight and landing rights and making initial contacts to allow U.S. forces, if and when authorized to assist, to more effectively interact with their regional counterparts. As Deputy...

The official version; then there's the in-the-trenches version NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Diverging views of a crumbling New Orleans emerged Thursday. The sanitized view came from federal officials at news conferences and television appearances. But the official line was contradicted by grittier, more desperate views from the shelters and the streets. These conflicting views came within hours, sometimes minutes of each of each other, as reflected in CNN's transcripts. The speakers include Michael Brown, chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, evacuee Raymond Cooper, CNN correspondents and others. Here's...

..........“Houston is rising to the call of an unprecedented refugee situation,” White said at a press conference this morning. “People should be asking themselves in this region where they know of a garage or apartment.” Thousands of children displaced from their homes by Hurricane Katrina have been enrolled in schools throughout the Houston area, and government officials were kicking conventioneers out of several centers so the buildings could be turned into shelters. “If it takes someone suing us, then sue — and then explain to the American public,” White said. He estimated that 100,000 evacuees already were in the Houston...

Sept 2 (Reuters) - Hurricane Katrina has devastated New Orleans and other parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast, killing hundreds of people and possibly thousands, and drawing pledges of support from all over the world.

PARIS, Sept. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- French Foreign Ministry announced Thursday that France is to send aid and troops to US Gulf coast area hit by Hurricane Katrina, one of the most devastating storms in the country's history. "Our operational humanitarian aid group is going to meet to study the civilian and military means that France could make available from French regions and the French West Indies," said French Foreign Ministry's spokesman, Denis Simmoneau. "From our crisis unit, which is going to Baton Rouge from Lafayette, we are following the situation of the French people we know about," said the spokesman....

VIENNA - From papal prayers to telegrams from China, the world reacted with an outpouring of compassion Wednesday for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in messages tinged with shock that a disaster of this scale could occur in the United States. Islamic extremists rejoiced, giving the storm a military rank and declaring in Internet chatter that ''Private'' Katrina had joined the global jihad. Venezuela's government, which has had tense relations with Washington, announced that it will donate $1 million to help the victims. The money will be channeled through CITGO, a U.S. unit of PDVSA, the government oil company, the...

BATON ROUGE, LA. - The Chatmans popped the trunk on their aging Oldsmobile and pulled out garbage bags bursting with baby formula, clothes, shoes, sheets, and food. The Baton Rouge family didn't know anyone affected by hurricane Katrina. But when they heard a local television station was a designated donation drop-off location, they gathered up all they could and headed into town. "We have very little, but they have nothing," says Dre Chatman, unloading another bag. "It's people helping people." The historic storm has left tens of thousands of people in Louisiana and Mississippi without possessions or a place to...

20 countries offer Katrina aid From correspondents in Washington 02sep05 MORE than 20 countries, from allies Germany and Japan to prickly Venezuela and poor Honduras, have offered to help the United States cope with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Accustomed to being a rich donor rather than on the receiving end of charity, the United States initially seemed reticent about accepting foreign aid, but later said it would take up any offers. The hurricane devastated New Orleans and other parts of the US Gulf Coast, killing hundreds and possibly thousands. "Anything that can be of help to alleviate the tragic...

SIERRA VISTA - Dana Jackson, an apprentice with the Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative, worked out of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico for two years. He's now returning to the Gulf Coast, this time with some of his SSVEC co-workers to help repair the power infrastructure after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Mississippi Delta area earlier this week. Jackson, originally from Meridian, Miss., has an idea of what awaits him and the rest of the crew. "I worked offshore on oil rigs, so we were out there for a couple of hurricanes," said Jackson, whose family and friends are safe...

VIENNA, Austria — From papal prayers to telegrams from China, the world reacted with an outpouring of compassion Wednesday for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in messages tinged by shock that a disaster of this scale could occur in the United States. Islamic extremists rejoiced in America's misfortune, giving the storm a military rank and declaring in Internet chatter that "Private" Katrina had joined the global jihad, or holy war. With "God's help," they declared, oil prices would hit $100 a barrel this year. Venezuela's government, which has had tense relations with Washington, offered humanitarian aid and fuel if requested....

A liberal caller on Hannity cited that liberal blogs have set up a link to donate to hurricane victims, and challenged conservatives to do the same.

I don't think I have to point out to anyone just how horrendous the situation down in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama is today. Hurricane Katrina has proved to be the worst natural disaster to strike the United States since the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, and the effects of this unprecedented catastrophe will surely be felt in this country for many months, and perhaps years to come.

Remember the Asian Tsunami in December last year ? There was a major worldwide coordination and support and even mass appeal/concerts for the world to aid the victims affected. The UN helped to coordinate aid effort to these countries. UN officials even criticized the "niggling" (note the quotes) response from developed countries. Now that the most generous nation on earth has its own version of the Tsunami ( an entire city wiped out ), are we going to see the same world-wide sympathy for AMERICAN victims ? Will we see the same concerts to raise money ? Will we see...

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today urged American Muslims and other people of conscience to offer whatever assistance they can to help alleviate the suffering of those impacted by Hurricane Katrina. This week, Katrina left a trail of death and destruction along the Gulf Coast. Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco is declaring Wednesday a day of prayer. In a statement, the Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group said: "We join Gov. Blanco in urging Americans of all faiths to pray for the victims of this unprecedented national disaster. As stated in the Qu’ran, Islam's revealed text: 'Seek help with...

Brett Favre's Official Website to Aid Hurricane Victims by Nathan Yoder officialbrettfavre.com When forecasters projected hurricane Katrina’s path to hit the gulf coast of Brett Favre’s Home state of Mississippi, Brett became very concerned. Brett’s mom, Bonita Favre, resides in Kiln, MS which is just a few miles from the coast. Brett’s phone conversation with his mom was cut short due to 60 mph wind gusts. He was unable to reach her for about 30 hours and later heard there were 135 mph gusts. Once he was able to talk to her, she had to break the bad news that...