Katrina Survivors Registry Now Available   - 1,377 Views,

Los Angeles, CA, (PRWEB) September 5, 2005 — An independent web developer and Internet service provider have teamed up to provide a registry for the survivors of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Its purpose is to register survivors so that friends and family can learn their whereabouts located at www.KatrinaSurvivorHelp.org.

The core of the service is an online database that is free for anyone to add names to or search for survivors. The developer and Internet service provider have committed to making the site available for at least 6 months.

A telephone proxy service to access the web site is currently being coordinated. This service will allow for survivors to call in and have their name and personal information placed on the list and to allow family members to have the list searched. Communications with two major hotel chains headquartered in Washington, DC and Los Angeles, CA are underway with the expectation that they will be able to utilize their 800 number reservations system to provide this proxy service to the survivors.

Until the toll-free telephone number is in place, any individual, organization or business can gather data from survivors anywhere, but shelters are the ideal place. Volunteer proxies can simply gather information from the survivor and post it on the website. “The web site is up and running now and I encourage everyone who can to be a proxy,” said Don Bledsoe, “anyone with Internet access can assist other individuals, churches, organizations and businesses. I can only hope someone will locate my friends who are missing.”

“Everyone needs to help everyone,” explained Paul Robinson. “As one person trying to deal with this catastrophe, I can do little, but there are many people out there who know of someone. We just need to collect the information in one place accessible by anyone. While we’ ve received very positive initial acceptance from the hotels, it’ s understandable that it may not be possible for their reservation systems to handle survivor calls. We are looking for any company or organization that has inbound-call center operators who would kindly lend a hand during this time of national crisis,” he added.

A press release with the name of the sponsor and the toll-free telephone number for accessing the registry will be announced soon.

About Paul Robinson:
Paul Robinson has been in the computer industry since 1977 and independent web developer since 1995.

About Don Bledsoe:
A principal in Forefront Internet, he has many friends in New Orleans and is unable to learn of their whereabouts.