Failure and embarrassment must be good motivators. After Hurricane Katrina, FEMA allowed victims to file for aid online, but the Web form was only compatible with Internet Explorer. This was a non-event for most, but to geeks, it was an abomination, and the resulting negative attention may have inspired FEMA to create a new online assistance portal. There is now a single form for applying for all emergency assistance aid, regardless of the event.

And because the site was made in cooperation with several other agencies, you can do other stuff, too: apply for a small business loan, file a change of address with the Social Security Administration, apply for a student loan, and check on the status of your applications. This isn't the most exciting development, but it is the kind of development that better e-government is all about: giving citizens faster, less frustrating access to government services and information.

UPDATE: Two reactions from Twitter:

• @williamv pointed out that a Web-only form may not be very useful if the emergency has caused wide-ranging utility outages: "if there isn't offline .exe version it's not a very robust disaster tool. I wanna try it on mobile devices too...This is a good step forward for FEMA but the appeals process is opaque & how does the site link to ngo's?"
• The FEMA twitter account linked to the official press release, and specified: "This is just phase 1."