What can I say. You can donate to the Red Cross here or directly at RedCross.org.
Not much to say on the politics of it other than maybe actually funding the levee repairs earmarked after flooding in 1995 might have helped, might not. Better to err on the side of caution, I guess, but it’s too late now. If I didn’t have a baby at home I’d be driving to LA or MS right now to help people dig out and get safe.
Update: Welcome to September, National Preparedness Month
Update 2: From The Houston Chronicle via ThinkProgress
[In early 2001] the Federal Emergency Management Agency ranked the potential damage to New Orleans as among the three likeliest, most castastrophic disasters facing this country. The other two? A massive earthquake in San Francisco, and, almost prophetically, a terrorist attack on New York City.
For the love of god, if you still live in San Francisco, GET OUT NOW.