Community Develops Online for Families Searching for Victims

Sept. 1, 2005 — -- Two days after last hearing from his mother-in-law in New Orleans, Maryland resident Walter Harris on Wednesday logged onto a message board to ask, "If anyone on this message board can help us, please respond … we are going crazy."

Harris is one of the thousands of people using technology to try and reach loved ones who may have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Message boards and chat rooms have an eerie resemblance to the missing persons posters that went up on lampposts and bus kiosks in London after the July 7 subway bombing, and in New York City after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. But this time, the descriptions of the missing and details about their last known whereabouts are piling up online.

"I felt this was the last idea I have to try and communicate," said Harris. "Maybe somebody will see the message and respond."

In Harris' case, the Internet helped him find solidarity with other families in similar situations.

"I find it very comforting," said Harris. "It's not a happy feeling, but OK, I'm not the only one who cannot dial into New Orleans."

Good news arrived for Harris late Wednesday, when his mother-in-law finally reached relatives to say she was OK.

Kathy Cross, of Houston, went online to seek information about her niece's family, who live in Mississippi and have not been heard from in several days.

"It's kind of a nice way to vent or just see that you're not alone," Cross said. "You do realize so many people are affected. Even if it's just to say, 'Hey, here's a hug coming your way.'"

Others are using the Web to help friends who were displaced from their homes. Jody Coleman, 30, posted a message on the ABCNEWS.com message board asking for details about her friends' neighborhood in New Orleans. Her friend, husband and three children managed to evacuate to a hotel in Alabama but have little information about their home.

"I am able to find more detailed info on all different Web sites for her," said Coleman via e-mail. "Some info she was not even aware of. It isn't like she can communicate with anyone else who lives near her, since phone lines are down … I know they have to be going crazy wondering what they will come home to or if they will even have a home."