Apple Makes it Easy to Support Louisiana Flood Relief

Apple is lending its support to those affected by the catastrophic flood in Louisiana.

Cupertino is now soliciting donations for Louisiana flood relief on iTunes and the App Store. Head to one of those services and you'll see a large American Red Cross donation button that lets you easily contribute $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, or $200 to the humanitarian organization and support its Louisiana flood relief effort.

Apple says 100 percent of money collected will go straight to the American Red Cross. Note that you'll receive an email receipt from the iTunes Store, which will serve as the only acknowledgement of your donation.

The Red Cross on Friday called the flooding in Louisiana "the worst natural disaster to hit the United States since Superstorm Sandy" in 2012. At the peak of the floods last week, more than 10,000 people sought refuge at Red Cross and community shelters; some 4,000 people still have nowhere to go.

The Red Cross is urging people to donate, and estimating that the relief effort will cost at least $30 million.

"The Red Cross urgently needs the public to support relief efforts in Louisiana by making a financial donation today," the organization said.

This isn't the first time Apple has used its music store platform to open the door to American Red Cross disaster relief. The company launched similar efforts four years ago following Superstorm Sandy, in 2011 in the aftermath of the Great Tohoku Earthquake and Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, and after a major earthquake destroyed parts of Haiti back in 2010.