Even before hurricane Katrina made landfall Monday, a massive relief brigade - one that officials hoped would be an equal match for a huge Category 4 storm - was being deployed to help residents along Louisiana's low-lying coast.

Among them: The Red Cross called upon some 5,000 volunteers, including some who drove in from Washington State. Members of Fark.com, an online discussion board, offered to host fellow forum participants who were fleeing Katrina. And FEMA, the federal disaster-response agency, moved its search-and-rescue teams - as well as stockpiles of ice, water, and food - as close as safety would permit.

The outpouring of aid, possibly the largest the US has ever seen to cope with a domestic natural disaster, stems from Katrina's imposing size as well as its destination so near the major population center of New Orleans.

Such early deployment of relief is unusual in disaster-aid work. But damage projections had been so severe - and New Orleans deemed so vulnerable in its dependence on a network of levees, canals, and pumps to keep dry - that President Bush on Saturday went ahead and declared an emergency in the states of Louisiana and Mississippi, allowing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to mobilize ahead of the storm.

Forecasters, scientists, and government officials have long worried that a hurricane could swamp the Big Easy, parts of which are 10 feet below sea level, and cause months of misery. As a result, relief agencies - public and private - moved with urgency once Katrina, which led to nine fatalities when it hit Florida Thursday as a much weaker storm, turned toward Louisiana.

"This storm is so large ... that it's like all the storms from last year rolled together and probably [those were] still not as bad," says Margaret O'Brien-Molina, spokeswoman for the American Red Cross in its southwest region. "So our coordinated efforts have to be huge."

Last year, the Red Cross mobilized 7,000 volunteers total to handle the aftermath from four major hurricanes. For Katrina alone, it is working on sending upwards of 5,000. Staging areas set up at both Houston airports allowed arriving volunteers to get off their planes and onto the road as quickly as possible.

Red Cross emergency response vehicles, or ERVs, are crucial in a situation like this, says Ms. O'Brien-Molina, because many skeptical New Orleans residents didn't take the mandatory evacuation seriously enough and then were unable to get far enough away because of jammed evacuation routes. In addition, the Red Cross warehouse in Baton Rouge is filled with key supplies, and 283,000 heater meals are on their way to the state.

Hot meals are also on their way - 80,000 per day - thanks to the Texas Baptist Men, a ministry with a history of disaster response. It plans to have available more than a dozen kitchens in Louisiana that can serve "one-pot meals," such as stew, chili, or chicken and rice. The kitchens are self-sufficient, with generators, water purifiers, and propane. To get to the most devastated areas, the group's members bring their own chain-saw units, along with chaplains and portable showers for those in need.

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