Though you're still unlikely to hear much about the contribution General Aviation is making to the Katrina recovery effort, one Cessna is having an inestimable impact on Hurricane releif after it was used to map much of the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina.

Flown on a rigorous number of high-resolution photo passes at 7500 feet, the photo paths are now being posted online by NOAA so that people can inspect areas of interest, in order to judge the extent of damage and flooding still in the area.

The entire area has yet to be fully photographed, but affected parties have been advised to use these maps in an effort to find their respective neighborhoods and that updates will be posted as soon as they are available.

The maps have been segmented into a multitude of areas with small rectangles signifying the photo paths taken by the Cessna. Users then click on the small black boxes, approximating their area of interest, to zoom to the overhead pictures and/or use the back button in their Internet browser to return to the main map to select other maps and photos.

FMI: http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/katrina/KATRINA0000.HTM