NFL pledges $1 million for Katrina relief

NEW YORK, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- The National Football League plans to donate $1 million to the American Red Cross to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina.

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue made the announcement Wednesday. He added the NFL and its clubs are working on other initiatives to assist in the relief effort.

Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast -- coastal areas in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, and New Orleans was flooded with water and largely evacuated.

Hundreds, possibly thousands, are feared dead, and damages are climbing into the tens of billions of dollars.