Yesterday I posted a piece at ZDNet's Government IT blog on turning hopeless victims into smart mobs. This was a reflection of some interesting ideas that David Stephenson has been posting about how IT can help in homeland security and disaster preparedness. He's not the only one obviously.

Doc Searls, at the IT Garage, is asking "how does IT help with Katrina recovery?" and offering a place where IT folks can post stories about their experiences with Katrina. He's also pointing to the Slidell Hurricane Damage Blog.

The Slidell blog is maintained by Brian Oberkirch who lists his contact information prominently on the front page. Slidell is near the Northeast corner of Lake Pontchatrain, about five miles West of the Mississippi border and 20 miles Northeast of New Orleans. The blog contains photos, announcements, updates from county officials. This blog is a perfect example of what smart mobs can do to help in a disaster.

There are also katrina tags at Flickr, del.icio.us, and Technorati.