Rescue worker health & safety resources; disaster coverage

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of southern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. In watching CNN last night, I was struck by the bravery of the police, firefighters, and volunteers who put themselves in harm's way to rescue survivors. Health care workers are also doing an amazing job under terrible circumstances: staffing flooded hospitals, tending to refugees in the Superdome, and relocating elderly nursing home residents.

The disaster recovery is boggling in scope, and we will no doubt address it further. For now, here are some health and safety resources for rescue workers:

Worker safety after a flood
Worker Safety in a Power Outage
Emergency Response Resources for Workers
Response, Cleanup and Safety for Workers

The above links were found via Poynter. The Poynter Institute is a school for journalists, future journalists, and teachers of journalists. The website is often a good source of information for large, breaking news stories. In addition to the above links, they also have an extensive list of links to post-disaster health and safety resources for civilians and workers alike. It seems like a good time to give these resources wider circulation.

Online news coverage
In addition to the national media outlets, here are some online resources to local coverage.
NOLA - Breaking News from the Times Picayune
The Irish Trojan - a New Orleans area blogger who is posting frequent updates
Today's Times Picayune - special online edition in pdf
Large graphic of the New Orleans levee system

Some of the following links to online TV resources can be slow loading due to demand.
WLOX - streaming video from Biloxi, MS
WJTV - online video from Jackson, MS
WPMI - online video from Mobile. AL
WLTV - online streaming video (embedded) from New Orleans

Joe Paduda has a post on Katrina's impact on insurance costs in which he links to several articles and offers good commentary.