Bloggers swamped by Katrina

Bloggers journaling the devastating power of Hurricane Katrina have proved surprisingly productive in the face of power outages, flooding and general mayhem the storm has caused.

But bloggers at New Orleans' Times-Picayune appeared to be overpowered by mother nature on Tuesday morning -- at least temporarily. In the blog's last post, at 9:40 AM Central Time, the paper announced it would cease updating the blog while staff evaculated its New Orleans building as water there continued to rise.

"We want to evaucate our employees and families while we are still able to safely leave our building," an unnamed blogger for the paper wrote.

The blog, run in parntership with local news site Nola.com, featured frequent contributions from staff reporters on Monday, with a few photos and reports from "citizen journalists," as well. The site also provides online forums for readers to exchange questions and information.

The Times-Picayune also decided to deliver its Tuesday edition only electronically via a PDF document available on its Web site as the hurricane made paper deliveries impractical.