Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast late Monday and the record storm surge flooded towns up and down the coast; millions are without power and at least twenty-nine people in fifteen US states have been killed.

If you’d like to help, what’s needed most is money, blood and volunteer labor. It’s best not to donate things—after disasters nonprofits are typically bogged down with more stuff than they can process. Contribute money to a large organization that can handle the funds, like the Red Cross (which operates emergency shelters) or the Humane Society (which cares for stranded pets) and let them know it’s specifically for Sandy relief.

In New York City, recovery efforts are being coordinated by Occupy NYC and community organizations on the ground. You can volunteer time and money as well as ask for help.

In Brooklyn, volunteers are needed at several evacuation shelters near Park Slope.

New York Cares is signing up volunteers interested in being part of the relief response. They’ll have more details about specific relief efforts soon.

Nationally, Feeding America is taking donations for food, water, and other supplies for people throughout the affected area.

FEMA has a list of charitable organizations accepting donations in all the states hit hard.

Watch this space for updates and please use the comments field to recommend other relief efforts, especally in non-US countries, worth supporting.

And, after you make a donation to disaster relief, join 350.org in connecting the dots and calling on Big Oil to do the same by signing an open letter asking energy corporations to take the millions of dollars they’re spending to buy climate silence this election and donate it to climate relief instead.