In addition to the Forbes article I mentioned yesterday, both the BBC and New York Times (free registration required) cover the use of Google Maps and Earth by ordinary users to collect and distribute information about the disaster — i.e., the “non-official” Google Earth overlays and Google Maps hacks (via Google Earth Blog).

Here are some of them (via Google Maps Mania):

• The Katrina Information Map is a mashup where users can annotate a map with information about the disaster and the relief efforts. It depends on users’ self-restraint: they’re asked not to use it to ask questions or to provide basic labels.
• KatrinaShelter.com uses Google Maps to list private homes and shelters able to take people displaced by the storm; doesn’t work in Safari.
• This before and after mashup puts pre- and post-Katrina satellite images of New Orleans side-by-side.