Hey, I am the first to slam the telcos (aka former Baby Bells), but I have to say, BellSouth gets huge props for this:

Evacuees to the Houston Astrodome and surrounding Reliant Center facilities will be receiving an important New Orleans product – their local editions of The Real Yellow Pages® from BellSouth.

With the thousands of evacuees who are temporarily located at the Astrodome and surrounding Reliant Centers, BellSouth is having directories delivered to assist evacuees in reaching family, businesses and important resources prior to returning to the New Orleans area.

“The evacuees located in the Houston area are BellSouth customers, neighbors and family.  We hope having a local resource with important numbers including insurance companies, schools and other and resources will be of great assistance to all evacuees,” said Ike Harris, President of BellSouth Advertising & Publishing Corporation.

Approximately 900 directories are scheduled to be delivered on Monday, September 12.   Evacuees who have already found housing in the Houston area, but still want a copy of their local directory can go online to www.realpageslive.com and access any of the more than 500 BellSouth directories, or they can call (800) 422-1955, provide their Louisiana home telephone number and ask for a copy of their local directory.

Over the next few weeks, BellSouth will work with SBC Communications to provide directories to other centers located in Texas and neighboring states hosting Hurricane Katrina Evacuees.

Mike and I were talking last night about the media coverage of Katrina. TV and the media in general is in uncharted territory and coming up with insight about the role of the media is difficult because of the dynamic nature of the events. While we mull over our commentary, look at these remarks:

“This is a basic crisis communications principle: When you are dealing in a crisis situation, people want to look, see and feel that some type of leadership is being projected," said Chris Lehane, a Democratic communications consultant.

"There is a void, and people are looking for someone to fill that void," he added. "In the modern media age when most people get their information through television images, it is important to physically show leadership."

My wife and I have been anxious to donate household goods such as toiletries and clothing to the hurricane survivors who now are living at the Phoenix Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum (aka The Madhouse on McDowell, former home of the Phoenix Suns). Showing the power of the Web’s ability to virally get the word out, we heard via email from one of our fellow District 7 Democrats that the local Air America affiliate, KKXT, was accepting new household goods. And so, we were on our way. Believe me, it's just the start! There were lots of people donating goods at the radio station, all of whom heard through the Web--the greatest agent for getting the word out.

Wherein Allen and Mike try to understand the effect of Katrina on the NO media. Will papers make a permanent jump to all digital -- or primarily digital -- by necessity?