Hello fellow listers, Many of you have been very concerned about my family's safety, I thank you for that. We here in Lafayette, Louisiana have no weather related problems from Hurricane Katrina. We do have many refugees from New Orleans, Mississippi and Alabama. Our traffic problems are unreal. We have many shelters here such as the Cajundome http://www.cajundome.com/. They are housing probably as many as 10,000 and Blackham Coliseum http://www.lafayettetravel.com/meetings/meetingspace/blackham_coliseum.cfm to house those refugees pets. Our banking systems here are down because of the problems in New Orleans. Phones especially are working but it takes several tries to make a call. System are overloaded. Went to the bank this morning and they told me they are working to move the databases to another location so we can use our checking and bank debit or credit cards. All of the charitable organization here are in dire need of bedding, non perishables. Locals are able to donate that. However if anybody would like to contribute money, here is a list of organizations that you can write a check and use credit card but make sure it is for the Hurricane victims. Here are some phone numbers of organizations that are legitimate organizations. If you want to make a donation, call or send it yourself. I am not recommending any one in particular but these are reputable organizations *American Red Cross*, 800-HELP-NOW (435-7669) (English), 800-257-7575 (Spanish). *America's Second Harvest*, 800-344-8070. *Adventist Community Services*, 800-381-7171. *Catholic Charities USA*, 800-919-9338. *Christian Disaster Response*, 941-956-5183 or 941-551-9554. *Christian Reformed World Relief Committee*, 800-848-5818. *Church World Service*, 800-297-1516. *Convoy of Hope*, 417-823-8998. *Lutheran Disaster Response*, 800-638-3522. *Mennonite Disaster Service*, 717-859-2210. *Nazarene Disaster Response*, 888-256-5886. *Operation Blessing*, 800-436-6348. *Presbyterian Disaster Assistance*, 800-872-3283. *Salvation Army*, 800-SAL-ARMY (725-2769). *Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief 800-462-8657 - Ext. 6440. *United Methodist Committee on Relief*, 800-554-8583 To look at unbelievable pictures and video go to these New Orleans TV stations, go to website http://www.wwltv.com/ or just click on the following words: Watch WWL-TV Live <http://www.wwltv.com/perl/common/video/wmPlayer.pl?title=beloint_khou&props =livenoad> or this site http://www.wdsu.com/index.html or click on the following words <http://www.wdsu.com/video/4909353/detail.html> WDSU Hurricane Coverage It is unbelievable!!!!! Thank you for your concerns, Laszlo (Les) Josa