In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Internet has been a vital tool in helping families and friends locate missing loved ones. Now, Monster Worldwide Inc. is launching a free online service to help thousands of unemployed Katrina survivors find new jobs.

The customizable Web site, hurricanerelief.monster.com, which is also accessible via Monster's main job site, Monster.com, provides public- and private-sector employers with free job postings to help Katrina victims find temporary or permanent work. Many of the jobs also include work to rebuild areas devastated by Katrina, and some of the jobs include relocation assistance, temporary housing, and transportation.

The site also offers links to nonprofit organizations looking for volunteer help in the hurricane-affected regions.

Soon after the Web site was launched Thursday morning, there were already about 500 jobs posted on the site, says Steve Pogorzelski, Monster's group president. "There's a range of jobs that are being posted, including technical [jobs] like programmers and analysts, healthcare, carpentry, crane operators, utility workers--there's a wide gamut of white- and blue-collar jobs up there," he says. Among those posting job openings so far are government agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and commercial companies like Tyson Foods, he says. The site will remain active as long as necessary, he says.

Job applicants also have free access to Monster's online tools, such at those to prepare resumé, Pogorzelski says.

Pogorzelski expects the company's Katrina job site will attract a high volume of traffic: The U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday that for the week ending Sept. 10, first-time claims for unemployment rose by 71,000 from the previous week, to 398,000, the largest one-week surge of jobless claims since January 1996. The department estimates that about 68,000 of the 71,000 new claims were filed by people who lost jobs as a result of Katrina.

Says Pogorzelski, "Those numbers will grow as others file claims in weeks to come."