Katrina Coverage

From this:
...In other words, the names of close to 20,000 evacuees were entered into the system before anyone realized that none of the names could be searched by the public. Furthermore, bugs in the application meant that it took several days for the CAN data to be uploaded into the official International Committee for the Red Cross database, which could then be made available to the public.
Separate volunteer efforts sprung up like daisies to get the data online and available. "We created a quick-access database in SQL Server to serve as a temporary repository while the Feds finished CAN," Adams said. At least 20 different search sites appeared on the Web, prompting Yahoo! to build a tool to simultaneously search multiple databases. However, at press time, this search function still didn't work across all of them...
Problems tracking people persisted. Technology For All, a nonprofit organization that helps connect community centers to the Internet, said another problem was recording people who left the Astrodome. "When someone finds someone, they tend to run out the door without leaving a forwarding address, so there is no way of connecting with them," said William Reed, president and CEO of Technology For All...
"This disaster will force the Red Cross to come kicking and screaming into the 21st century," Raymond added...