With any natural disaster comes the immediate need for fresh information and readily available updates for those directly affected. Of course there are also those who are indirectly affected and seek for answers to aid loved ones and friends. So in today’s technological world wouldn’t it seem like we should be able to access any information desired by the stroke of a few keys and maybe a Google search? Unfortunately in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina I am finding that certain information seems unattainable, yet I have faith someone has to have the answers.

My friend and her husband who live right outside of Slidell, Louisiana (which is in St. Tammany Parish) drove to Mobile, Alabama before the storm. Taking with them only wedding photos and some clothes, they left everything else behind to weather the storm. Now with news pouring in about the conditions in her general area she is more concerned than ever about the status of her home and her job (she works for Northrop Grumman). As you can imagine the prospect of being not only homeless but jobless as well is a little disconcerting for most people. So of course, like thousands of others in her area, she has tried everything she can to get in touch with local law enforcement or community agencies to find out the potentially grim news. However, my friend continues to run into dead ends. Either no one answers (phones busy with influx of calls) or they don’t have any direct information as to the specific neighborhood she lives in.

So, I decided, in my effort to help, that I would tackle the issue by blogging. Feeling somewhat resourceful with my new found ability to blog, I went on a search to see if there were any “Citizen Bloggers” writing from, or about, her area. Of course there were plenty of stories with vivid pictures of the destruction and horrid tales from survivors on all the main news pages and such, but I wanted first hand accounts and a question/answer format. I finally hit the jackpot when I stumbled onto Jeremy Pepper’s blog called Blogs and Hurricane Katrina. Jeremy’s blog leads us to two additional sites by Brian Oberkirch (Weblogs Work and Slidell Hurricane Damage Blog). Both were insightful and had plenty of information for those near or in Slidell. I also researched a site called Hurricane Katrina Help Wiki. It only took a minute of surfing this site to uncover plenty of blogs from people in or around those areas. I was amazed to see how quickly and how efficiently the ability to communicate via blogging had become in the face of disaster. Not only did they post numerous blogs in regards to the unfolding tragedy, they also posted important numbers and contact information. I am sure there are numerous other sites available with similar information I have yet to uncover but I must admit I was impressed with the ability to find this type of information at all.

After leading my friend to these blog sites I felt reassured that she was on the right track to finding the information she needed. I couldn’t help but agree with Jeremy who said,

“What does this have to do with public relations? Easy – in any crisis situation, you want to be able to get information out quickly, in an organized way. With a blog or RSS feeds, as Oberkirch has shown, a corporation can disseminate information out quickly to employees or customers so that they have the correct information at hand, and do not rely on what’s being said through the grapevine. In a crisis, time is of the essence, and by using RSS feeds and blog software, Oberkirch is a case study on how a corporation can aggregate data and talking points to get out to the right people.”

There really should be more of this type blogging available, especially when faced with disaster and the rumor mills that follow. I hope that due to this unfortunate, unavoidable tragedy someone will take a serious look at blogging as a source for disseminating useful information.