ReadWriteWeb

This past weekend marked the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's destructive landfall in New Orleans, Louisiana. While the flooding caused by the hurricane was horrific, the events brought out the best in humanitarians - many of whom leveraged the power of the Web to help raise money and gather supplies for relief efforts. Half a decade later, the Web has become a power platform through which to donate to charitable organizations, and one company - Endorse for a Cause (EFAC) - hopes their platform can take this trend to a whole new social level.

Web users are increasingly relying on social media for help in the event of disaster, according to a new report by the American Red Cross.

Many Web users said they would use social media to seek help for themselves or others during emergencies, the report said, and those users expect first responders to be listening. Almost three out of every four responders said they would expect help to come less than an hour after their first tweet or Facebook post.

Getting information out to victims and their families during a disaster is a major issue for any relief organization. So while the Central United States recovers from a spate of storms that has ravaged towns with tornadoes and flooding, the American Red Cross is relying on a number of web 2.0 technologies to spread information to the press and people affected by the severe weather. The online newsroom that the organization has set up relies on a number of web 2.0 widgets.