08:56 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Tom Planchet

8:55 P.M. - (AP) Hurricane Katrina's "complete destruction" of St. Bernard Parish apparently was caused by levee failure along a 76-mile-long shipping channel opened in 1965, the man in charge of pumping out the area said Tuesday.

6:55 P.M. - (AP) As rising floodwaters swamped New Orleans, Louisiana's chief epidemiologist enlisted state police on a mission to break into a high-security government lab and destroy any dangerous germs before they could escape or fall into the wrong hands.

Armed with bolt cutters and bleach, Dr. Raoult Ratard's team entered the state's so-called "hot lab," and killed all the living samples. "This is what had to be done," said Ratard, who matter-of-factly put a sudden end to his lab's work on dangerous germs, which he wouldn't name.

6:45 P.M. - (AP) Experts will have to clean and decontaminate the Louisiana Superdome, which was wrecked while housing thousands of people seeking refuge from Hurricane Katrina, before the stadium's future can be determined, officials said Tuesday.

6:33 P.M. - DALLAS (AP) -- One of two big shelters for hurricane victims in Dallas will be shut down this week.

The city will close the Dallas Convention Center shelter over the next couple of days. Red Cross spokesman Paul Studebaker says everyone who has not found a permanent place to live will be moved to Reunion Arena.

He says many evacuees are beginning to run errands, often by taking buses around the city, and are setting out in search of areas they would like to live.

6:12 P.M. - Stephen Perry, New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Vistor's Bureau: Convention Center has lost 100-200 major conventions and close to $3.5 billion in business through March of 2006.

6:10 P.M. - Perry: We are stripping down the Convention Center and rebuilding the inside from the ground up...new carpets, new floors, new walls. We will have a better Convention Center than we had before the storm.

5:45 P.M. - St. Tammany Parish Public School System officials have released dates for School System employees to return to work in anticipation of reopening schools October 3. Click for story.

5:27 P.M. - (AP) The owners of a New Orleans-area nursing home where 34 patients died in Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters were charged with negligent homicide Tuesday.

The owners of St. Rita's Nursing Home in St. Bernard Parish "were asked if they wanted to move (the patients). They did not. They were warned repeatedly that this storm was coming. In effect, their inaction resulted in the deaths of these patients," Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti said.

Mable B. Mangano, owner and administrator of the nursing home, and Salvador A. Mangano, a co-owner, surrendered and were jailed.

5:25 P.M. - Louisiana Supt. of Education Cecil Picard said 186,000 students have been displaced around the state due to Katrina and that 25,000 employees are out of work.

5:00 P.M. - Mayor Ray Nagin: The city of New Orleans is out of cash and can't make its payments for the next month, but city is hoping to open a line of credit to keep in business through the end of the year. He says he doesn't believe the city will have to file bankruptcy.

4:58 P.M. Nagin on Blanco: In the final analysis, we all could have done better.

4:55 P.M. Nagin: Hopes to allow people who live Uptown, French Quarter and in Algiers back into the city on Monday.

4:48 P.M. - Saints and LSU share Sports Illustrated cover. Click for large image.

4:33 P.M. - State Attorney General Charles Foti has filed involuntary manslaughter charges in the deaths of 34 nursing home residents.

3:38 P.M. - The insurance industry and the government reached out Tuesday to help thousands of hurricane evacuees who had to flee before they could retrieve important documents.

Health insurers established a call center for evacuees who have questions about their coverage or may not know how to contact their insurers. Full-page ads announcing the call center's toll-free number, 1-800-644-1818, will run Wednesday in newspapers throughout the Gulf Coast region and surrounding states.

Evacuees can apply for such federal programs as Medicaid, Head Start and child care subsidies without certain documents that would have previously been mandatory, Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said.

3:05 P.M. - Senator Mary Landrieu responding to President Bush accepting blame for Katrina rescue blunders: "The President's comments today will do more to move our country forward from this tragedy than anything that has been said by any leader in the past two weeks. Accountability at every level is critical, and leadership begins at the top.

"Let us now get to work rebuilding this great city and metropolitan area. Let's get serious about supporting and protecting coastal communities along the Gulf Coast and all of our coasts. And let's try to work together at the local, state and federal levels to get the job done right."

2:57 P.M. - St. John Parish President Nickie Monica: Curfew being lifted in Parish. He wants grocery stores and businesses to open.

2:56 P.M. - Monica: Parish now has 18,000 new residents.

2:53 P.M. - Monica: Storm created two million cubic yards of debris.

2:52 P.M. - HAVANA (AP) -- The United States has still not responded to Cuba's offer of 1,600 doctors to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, Cuba said Tuesday.

The response "has yet to arrive, and may never come," said a front-page government statement in Granma, the ruling Communist Party daily.

2:49 P.M. - (AP) Louisiana's governor lashed out at the federal government Tuesday, accusing it of moving too slowly in recovering the bodies of those killed by Hurricane Katrina.

The dead "deserve more respect than they have received," Gov. Kathleen Blanco said at state police headquarters in Baton Rouge.

2:46 P.M. - (AP) There is no horse-drawn wagon to take the coffin to the cemetery, no wailing jazz band trudging through the streets. The dead these days no longer get the traditional New Orleans send-off.

Instead, gleaming refrigerated trucks escorted by police carry them away — not to their final resting places, but to a disaster morgue in a town bordered by sugar cane fields and the Mississippi River.

2:35 P.M. - Hurricane Katrina's rampage through southeastern Louisiana cut into the take from Louisiana's state-licensed casinos in August, according to incomplete figures released Tuesday.

The three riverboat casinos and the downtown New Orleans casino, which shut down before Katrina's arrival, did not complete their reports for their final days of operation, state police said.

Based upon that, casinos won $173 million from gamblers during the month, just a shade lower than the $173.8 million in winnings the gambling halls posted in August 2004. Since last August, Louisiana's 15th and final riverboat casino — L'Auberge Du Lac — opened in Lake Charles. That casino took in $17.1 million last month.

2:20 P.M. - WWL-TV: October and November elections have been indefinitely postponed.

2:19 P.M. - BATON ROUGE (AP): Louisiana is losing thousands of dollars each day in taxes as three New Orleans area riverboat casinos sit idle and thousands of video poker machines remain off-line, in some instances underwater and damaged beyond repair by Hurricane Katrina.

Employees are displaced, and reopening dates are sketchy at best.

The state's gambling regulatory board received an early assessment today of the hurricane's damage to an industry that provides tax income to the state and thousands of its residents.

The video poker industry was particularly hard hit, with 31% of the video poker machines -- that provide $4.6 million a month in state tax revenue -- located in parishes affected by Katrina.

State police say nearly 3,800 video poker machine went down during and after the hurricane still aren't operating. And machines that took in water during the flooding won't work even when the power is restored.

1:49 P.M. - LITTLE ROCK, AR (AP): Arkansans from across the state are offering pasture and barn space for the hundreds of horses left homeless by Hurricane Katrina. Others are gathering hay, water buckets and money to send to the animals left in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Arkansas Horse Council president Betty Jones says she has been contacted by horse rescue agencies and individuals wanting to help in the horse-relief effort.

The horses were mostly rescued from private owners and farms in Louisiana and Mississippi, are now at various shelters set up for them in those states. Jones says she has also been working with both the Mississippi and Louisiana Horse Councils to assist in the care of the animals.

The horses, for the most part, are remaining in their home states to reduce the chance of the spread of disease.

1:47 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP): Hurricane Katina's devastation along the Gulf Coast is expected to strain home builders.

Walter Maloney of the National Association of Realtors says the need for evacuees to rebuild their homes is projected to push home building to the highest level since 1973. He says that will create shortages of building materials and increase construction costs, putting additional pressure on overall home prices.

Maloney says at least 200,000 homes will need to be replaced, but the increase in projected construction is only 130,000 units "so there's going to be a shortfall." He says the rental market is already tightening up and mobile homes will probably be needed to help address the demand.

But the association expects mortgage interest rates to rise more slowly as a result of post-storm economic conditions, to accommodate the loss of homes, jobs and businesses. He says that's likely to push home sales to new records.

1:35 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP): Louisiana Senator David Vitter called today for the creation of an independent reconstruction commission to oversee the spending of the billions of dollars in federal aid expected for the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

On his first day back at the Senate since the storm hit August 29, the freshman Republican said relying on the Federal Emergency Management Agency to manage the reconstruction is recipe for failure.

Congress already has appropriated $62 billion for hurricane relief and various officials have estimated that the total bill, including reconstruction, could approach or exceed $200 billion.

Senator Edward Kennedy proposed last week that Congress create a Gulf Coast Redevelopment Authority, modeled after the Tennessee Valley Authority to oversee the reconstruction. TVA, created during the Depression as an independent federal agency, is widely credited with the revitalization of the seven-state Tennessee Valley region.

Vitter provided little detail about the commission he proposed. He said the Louisiana congressional delegation is working on a comprehensive legislative package to implement the idea.

1:30 P.M. - (AP): Despite concerns about germs and other risks from filthy New Orleans floodwaters, public health officials aren't seeing many cases of disease.

Instead, they're seeing injuries: more than 148 cases in just the past two days. Workers report these include chainsaw wounds and carbon monoxide poisoning related to the use of generators.

A specialist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said such injuries are worrisome, because they'll likely become more common as hurricane rebuilding continues and more survivors return to the city.

Meanwhile, an engineer predicts it could be three months before the New Orleans' public water system is fully operational. Though some homes have running water, he says it's still mostly untreated Mississippi River water.

1:19 P.M. - Dr. Walter Maestri, Jefferson Parish E.O.C.: Limited residential return is taking place right now. The problem right now is that we need to get enough businesses up and running so that residents will be able to sustain themselves when they come back to town.

1:15 P.M. - Maestri: We’re seeing a lot of businesses coming back and trying to reestablish themselves. We’ve got some fast food and pizza places up and running now. Jefferson Parish is on the mend.

1:10 P.M. - Sen. Mary Landrieu, after President Bush accepted responsibility for mistakes made by the federal government in its response to Hurricane Katrina: "The President's comments today will do more to move our country forward from this tragedy than anything that has been said by any leader in the past two weeks. Accountability at every level is critical, and leadership begins at the top.

"Let us now get to work rebuilding this great city and metropolitan area. Let's get serious about supporting and protecting coastal communities along the Gulf Coast and all of our coasts. And let's try to work together at the local, state and federal levels to get the job done right."

12:44 P.M. - BATON ROUGE (AP): Governor Kathleen Blanco lashed out at FEMA today for moving too slowly in the recovery of bodies.

She said that the federal agency still has not signed a contract with a company that specializes in body removal, Houston-based Kenyon International Emergency Services.

Speaking of deceased victims of Hurricane Katrina, Blanco said they deserved more respect than they have received.

The governor said Kenyon has been working without a contract and has threatened to stop working if it does not get a contract. Blanco said the company does not have enough people for lack of a contract.

Blanco said she was "angry and outraged" and that she had received promises from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who oversees FEMA, and from FEMA officials but they had not followed through and signed the contract.

12:41 P.M. - WWL-TV: Entergy reports they have restored power for 535,000 out of 800,000 customers. Cleco said they have 51,000 out of 80,000 homes back on line.

12:37 P.M. - City Councilwoman Rene Gill Pratt (District B): There is electricity in the CBD, Uptown hospitals should be turned on, and we have running water.

12:35 P.M. - Pratt: The longer we (city officials) tell people not to come back to New Orleans, the more likely we are to lose those people to some other city in the country.

12:32 P.M. - Pratt: I don’t see why people in dry areas, who feel they have enough supplies to last them for several days, shouldn’t be allowed to stay in their homes.

12:29 P.M. - KENNER (AP): A Kansas man was killed while restoring power to lines damaged by Hurricane Katrina in Kenner.

Authorities say 27-year-old Nick Buxton of Emporia worked for Kansas City-based PAR Electrical Contractors, and collapsed while on a utility pole.

Kenner Police Captain Steve Caraway says another worker next to him heard Buxton gasp while trying to restore power to a low-voltage line. Buxton was cut down from the pole and taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Reba Reid, a spokeswoman for PAR parent company Houston-based Quanta Services, says initial reports do not indicate Buxton's death was caused by electrical contact, but the official cause of death has not been determined.

12:28 P.M. - SAN ANTONIO (AP): A 104-year-old New Orleans man who survived Hurricane Katrina has now been reunited with his family from Chicago.

Relatives of Amos Haynes of New Orleans were frantic when they lost track of him. Maurice Kaufman checked numerous Web sites and registered his grandfather's name.

Kaufman eventually received a call from Chaplain Donna Dickerson at Christus Santa Rosa Hospital in San Antonio, who used the Internet to help bring the men together. Kaufman and his grandfather were reunited yesterday at the hospital.

Haynes, who had been living with other relatives, evacuated as the water rose. He was flown to San Antonio on September third to be treated for dehydration. Haynes eventually felt better and was able to tell Dickerson about his grandson.

Kaufman says his grandfather will now live in a Chicago nursing home.

12:19 P.M. - Gov. Blanco, voicing frustration with FEMA’s efforts in recovering the bodies of hurricane victims: Our people—alive or dead—deserve to be treated with more respect than this.

12:13 P.M. - Roy Williams, New Orleans International Airport: The airport has lost $3 million in business since being shut down.

12:11 P.M. - BATON ROUGE (AP): The Louisiana Department of Social Services says that more than 138,000 state residents are in Hurricane Katrina shelters around the country.

Within Louisiana, that includes 57,865 in 346 regular shelters, and 334 in five special needs shelters.

Out-of-state shelters hold another 80,079 Louisiana citizens.

The Department of Social Services says it is holding daily strategy sessions with the American Red Cross and Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop a plan for transitional and long-term housing.

The second phase of the Disaster Food Stamp Program continues, with a waiver from the federal government which allows recipients to purchase hot foods with their benefits.

Without this waiver, hot foods and hot food products are considered ineligible food items in the Food Stamp Program.

12:07 P.M. - (AP): The head of the Port of New Orleans says today offers "a historical moment."

He says a freighter loaded with coffee and wood products from South and Central America arrives today.

Port President Gary LaGrange says two weeks ago, officials thought hurricane damage would keep the port down for a-half year.

He says the quick turnaround shows the city ``is back in business.'' He adds, "From a commercial and psychological standpoint, this is five stars."

He says another three ships are expected in this week.

The port is a gateway to a river system serving 33 states on the Mississippi or its tributaries.

About 100 dock workers have camped out on ships docked in the port since the weekend, with up to 400 expected by the end of the week.

The port has no power for the incoming ship, so it'll have to get an extension cord from a maritime administration vessel.

11:38 A.M. - WASHINGTON (AP): President Bush says Hurricane Katrina exposed "serious problems in the response capability at all levels of government." He told reporters that to the extent the federal government didn't "do its job right," he takes responsibility.

Bush, at a news conference with the visiting Iraqi president, said he wants to find out if the nation is capable of dealing with another storm or a severe attack.

He said, "I want to know what went right and what went wrong."

11:37 A.M. - ABERDEEN, SD (AP): An organization launched by a South Dakota businessman has sent more than 700,000 meals to hurricane victims in remote areas of the Gulf Coast.

Usually the group Feeding Children International contributes money, food and services to relief projects in other countries.

But after Hurricane Katrina hit, the organization decided to deliver food to Louisiana, Mississippi and other areas devastated by the storm.

Dick Proudfit owns Cardinal Industries and founded the group that's based in New Hope, Minnesota.

Proudfit says the organization is focusing its efforts on smaller communities where assistance efforts have lagged behind.

11:35 A.M. - HUNTSVILLE, AL (AP): An Alabama Congressman is concerned that the federal budget shortages caused by Hurricane Katrina could impact key NASA programs and facilities.

U-S Representative Bud Cramer suspects that finding the $16.4 billion for the space agency's 2006 budgets could be an uphill struggle in Washington this year.

NASA managers figure it will cost $1.1 billion to repair storm damage to its facilities and to relocate more than one-thousand workers.

The Kennedy Space Center was pounded last year by Hurricane Ivan and other storms, which cost NASA more than $500 million. Cramer fears storms could arise later in this year's hurricane season and do additional damage to Kennedy and possibly other NASA centers.

11:20 A.M. - WWL-TV: St. Tammany Parish update, Tuesday 11:15 a.m.

11:10 A.M. - WWL-TV: The University of New Orleans requests that all students, faculty and staff, who have not already done so, visit www.uno.edu and click on the appropriate check-in link where they will be asked to provide pertinent contact information.

11:07 A.M. - WWL-TV: Katrina devastates Christmas tree farms in St. Tammany.

10:00 A.M. - A former mayor of New Orleans called Monday for a compensation fund for the victims of Hurricane Katrina similar to the fund created for victims of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The fund was one of four public policy initiatives proposed by Marc Morial, who served two terms, from 1994 to 2002, as mayor of the devastated city.

Speaking to more than 200 people at the University of Pennsylvania, Morial said there should be a bipartisan commission — again, similar to the one created in the wake of Sept. 11 — to investigate the "miserably failed response" to the storm.

"There's going to be a whole lot of blame to go around," he said. "We've got to ensure that this never happens again."

9:45 A.M. - The new acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency pledged Tuesday to intensify efforts to finding more permanent housing for the tens of thousands of Hurricane Katrina survivors now in shelters.

"We're going to get people out of the shelters, we're going to move on and get them the help they need," R. David Paulison said in his first public comments since taking the job.

9:25 A.M. - HOUMA -- A handful of members of the Houma Army National Guard Unit who lost homes during Hurricane Katrina are returning before the rest of Charlie Company.

But none of them are believed to be from the immediate Houma-Thibodaux area, said Sgt. Shane Little, an administrative non-commissioned officer at the Houma guard armory on Williams Avenue.

"These will just be a few men from places that received the most damage during the hurricane. They will be ones that live in around New Orleans and just drill in Houma," he said Friday.

9:03 A.M. - HOUSTON (AP): The number of Hurricane Katrina refugees in Texas shelters is falling. The Dallas Red Cross says many people are now finding housing.

But thousands are not. And many being sheltered in public facilities are facing the prospect of another move.

Today's Houston Chronicle says the city might close the George R. Brown Convention Center shelter by Saturday. The paper quotes the mayor as saying there is no sense of urgency in trying to move out evacuees.

Many refugees have purchased large bags and packed up what few belongings they have in anticipation of moving by week's end.

The Chronicle reports the Joint Katrina Housing Task Force in Houston has opened a second service center and plans to operate four mobile units beginning today to speed up efforts to find more housing.

9:01 A.M. - WHITE HOUSE (AP): President Bush is planning a prime-time address to the nation on Hurricane Katrina from Louisiana on Thursday night.

Press Secretary Scott McClellan says details of the speech are still being finalized.

He says the president will use the 8 p.m. central time speech to discuss ongoing recovery efforts -- and what the spokesman calls ``the way forward.''

The administration's response to the disaster has been criticized as slow and disorganized, and yesterday, Bush's disaster chief, Michael Brown quit.

But McClellan says Bush intends to stress the "unprecedented'' nature of the hurricane that struck two weeks ago -- and say America needs to "come together to support'' Katrina's victims on the Gulf Coast.

8:57 A.M. - PADUCAH, KY (AP): Jebra Driver didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Driver's twin 36-year-old sons were found alive in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans yesterday, when they climbed down from the attic of their Ninth Ward home with their father.

The sons, John Wortmann the Third and Dion Wortmann, and their father, John Wortmann the Second, had been trapped inside the house for two weeks before the water receded enough for them to escape. The men flagged down some National Guard troops and were taken to a staging area at the downtown convention center.

Jebra Driver's husband, David Driver, said the three men were on a bus to a shelter, but weren't sure where that shelter was located. They planned on making arrangements to come to Paducah and reunite with their mother as soon as possible.

8:56 A.M. - PASCAGOULA, MS (AP): Thousands of workers have returned to Northrop Grumman's Gulf Coast shipyards as the defense contractor slowly gets back to production after Hurricane Katrina.

Bill Glenn, a spokesman for Northrop, said 5,000, 500 workers in Pascagoula, 600 in New Orleans and 40 in Gulfport returned to work yesterday.

The shipyard in Tallulah remains closed but Glenn said it may reopen in a week.

Northrop Grumman shipbuilding sector asked all its shipbuilders who could return to work to do so yesterday. The yards have returned to partial ship production and office work. Cleanup and recovery efforts will continue at all sector facilities.

The Pascagoula and New Orleans shipyards restored power to their operations over the weekend. Shipbuilders will begin work on 11 Navy and Coast Guard ships under construction.

Generators and shore power were moved into place over the weekend to resume work on the guided missile destroyers, amphibious assault ships, Coast Guard cutter, and oil tanker currently under construction.

Northrop is working with customers to determine priority work.

8:55 A.M. - SHREVEPORT (AP): Eleven evacuees from Hurricane Katrina have died over the past two weeks after being transported out of southeastern Louisiana.

Caddo Parish Coroner Doctor George McCormick says most of the dead were elderly patients or people who did not receive needed medical attention before and during the evacuation.

McCormick says one victim was a stillborn baby whose mother had complications during the evacuation,

Some of the victims died on buses and evacuation aircraft going to Shreveport. He says the others died in nursing homes around Shreveport.

McCormick says the process of identifying the dead and notifying patients is chaotic, because they can't even find out who to report the deaths to.

8:47 A.M. - Roy Williams, New Orleans International Airport: I’m confident that we’ll be up and running around October.

Williams: We continue to be a major base for the recovery effort in the city.

Williams: I think we have 20 folks are here at the field hospital in the airport. We’re seeing less than 100 people a day.

8:35 A.M. - HOUSTON (AP): An Auburn football player who thought he lost relatives during Hurricane Katrina has now learned they're alive -- in Texas.

Alonzo Horton believed his two younger brothers were killed in Hurricane Katrina. The New Orleans native also didn't know his father's whereabouts.

But Horton learned Sunday night that his family members were alive -- and in Houston -- after he reached a cousin by phone. Horton says another cousin had told him that his brothers -- six-year-old Delorean and eight-year-old Jerry -- died after taking refuge in a gymnasium in New Orleans.

Horton on Saturday said that his father remained unaccounted for. Horton's mother and other family members are staying in Atlanta.

8:25 A.M. - Una Anderson, Orleans Parish School Board (District 6): There were videotapes made of the criminal activities that took place in the city. We need to set a central collection point to gather these tapes, review them, identify the small number of criminals on the tapes, and show them that this city will not tolerate what they did in the wake of the storm.

8: 23 A.M. - Anderson: We need more communication between Jefferson Parish and Orleans school systems.

8:22 A.M. - Anderson: All of our schools in the lower Ninth Ward, in the Treme area, and in New Orleans East were severely damaged in the storm.

8:21 A.M. - Anderson: We have no money as a school system. We’ll be relying on FEMA and applying for federal money to get up and running, and to redesign our school system.

8:20 A.M. - Anderson: Some parents can no longer afford to send their kids to private schools when they come back home.

8:18 A.M. - Anderson: There is little doubt that we can rebuild an excellent education system. It’s not just a possibility, it’s a responsibility.

8:16 A.M. - Anderson: My husband and I went to Covington to flee from the storm. In the days following the storm, we talked to a school bus owner, borrowed the bus, and drove to I-10 and Causeway to pick up several evacuees.

8:15 A.M. - Dr. Diane Roussel, Jefferson Parish School Superintendent: I think it’s our responsibility to get students back in school here as soon as possible, so they can be part of the rebuilding process.

8:13 A.M. - Roussel: On October 3, we should have 42 schools ready to open, with another 11 or 12 set to open during the year. The others will reopen in 2006 and 2007.

8:04 A.M. - SHREVEPORT (AP): With the number of hurricane evacuees in shelters dwindling, the Red Cross plans to close two shelters in the Shreveport-Bossier City area.

Officials say they will take evacuees from the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City and LSU Shreveport and consolidate everyone at Hirsch Coliseum on the Louisiana State Fairgrounds.

There were more than three-thousand evacuees in Shreveport-Bossier shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit. That number is now down to just over 800 -- approximately 270 at LSUS, 200 at CenturyTel and 300 at Hirsch.

Many evacuees are living with relatives while others are finding apartments or temporary housing in the area. Others have moved to other cities while the cleanup in New Orleans continues.

Red Cross officials say they plan to have all evacuees relocated at Hirsch by the end of this week.

7:57 A.M. - ROCKVILLE, MD (AP): A Maryland county isn't finished helping the flooded city of New Orleans.

Now, Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan is sending his top public safety officials to help with recovery efforts.

Fire Chief Thomas Carr, Police Chief Thomas Manger and Homeland Security Director Gordon Aoyagi are leaving tomorrow to head south. They're going to help support the 75 firefighters and police officers who are already in New Orleans.

Carr plans to meet with the New Orleans Fire Chief to offer additional personnel. The county is also planning to donate a fire truck to the New Orleans Fire Department.

Firefighters from Montgomery County have been helping to rebuild many fire stations and restore equipment that was damaged by flood waters.

7:55 A.M. - LITTLE ROCK, AR (AP): Some of the aerial photographs that provided officials with comprehensive looks at Hurricane Katrina damage were shot with the aid of the Arkansas Civil Air Patrol.

Henry Lile is a major in the Civil Air Patrol.

Lile volunteered to fly as part of a three-person photo reconnaissance team that snapped images of the storm damage for emergency management authorities less than a week after the hurricane.

Lile says the scene in New Orleans reminded him of another disaster area he visited recently --- the coast of Sri Lanka, which was devastated by the huge Indian Ocean tsunami in December. He traveled to Asia to treat survivors as a medical missionary.

7:53 A.M. - WWL-TV: The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport will have it's first scheduled passenger flight following Hurricane Katrina arrive on Tuesday, September 13 at 10:44 a.m.

Northwest Airlines will be the first air carrier to re-enter the New Orleans market in the "Post Katrina" era. At 10:44 a.m., Northwest Airlines Flight 947 from Memphis, Tennessee will arrive at Armstrong International Airport at Gate A3. Northwest will have a second flight arrive at 2:57 p.m. from Memphis.

At approximately 11:00 a.m., Delta Air Lines will have its first flight arrival from their Atlanta hub and will increase to two daily flights on Wednesday and Thursday with the possibility of increasing further based on demand. For the immediate future, all flights will operate out of Concourses A and B.

Later in the day, FedEx restarts scheduled cargo service arrival with an evening arrival from their Memphis superhub.

Continental and Southwest are currently evaluating service startups and we expect them to resume operations later this week. Additional announcements about Armstrong service resumptions by passenger and cargo carriers are expected later this week.

Passengers coming to Armstrong International are reminded that both Jefferson Parish and the City of New Orleans are still under mandatory e vacuation and many other surrounding areas are operating under curfew. Please ensure that you have researched your ability to get around outside the airport environment prior to coming to the area. Only a few local hotels are open with limited availability and rental car services have not yet resumed.

7:48 A.M. - MEMPHIS, TN (AP): It illustrates some of the problems plaguing the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

About 200 tractor-trailer trucks loaded with ice and water for hurricane victims wound up in a storage depot in Memphis, Tennessee, after a convoluted, weeklong trip.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the drivers were sent to cities that didn't end up needing water or ice.

A spokesman says there was "miscommunication" between the Corps and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Corps says no one went without water because of the mix-up, and that supplies are exceeding demand right now. The spokesman also says the ice and water won't go to waste.

7:44 A.M. - Dr. Tim Ryan, UNO Chancellor: Next Monday—September 19—we’re putting a program on the internet that displaced students can use to continue their education. Available courses will be posted on that day, and registration for those classes will begin the following Monday. For more information, visit www.uno.edu.

7:38 A.M. - BATON ROUGE (AP): A coroner says autopsies will be done on more than 40 bodies found in a flooded New Orleans hospital.

Orleans Parish Coroner Doctor Frank Minyard says it isn't clear yet how the patients died. Other officials have said some were dead before Katrina arrived but high temperatures after the storm could have led to other deaths.

Minyard tells NBC the hurricane death count in New Orleans could rise significantly because searchers haven't gotten into some areas of deep flooding.

He says what they could find is a ``very scary thought.''

But he adds the body count -- about 300 in New Orleans -- may be a reflection of successful evacuations before Katrina.

Officials initially speculated the hurricane might have killed as many as 10,000 people.

7:35 A.M. - DENVER (AP): More than $1 million will go toward Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, thanks to two well-known names -- and their benefit concert in Colorado.

The Dave Matthews Band and the Neville Brothers performed to a sold-out crowd at Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Morrison last night.

The concert was the fourth in a row for the Dave Matthews Band, who sold-out its Friday-through-Sunday shows at Red Rocks moments after tickets went on sale.

The band then added a fourth show as a benefit, and the New Orleans-based Neville Brothers announced last week they would join the effort.

All proceeds from last night's show -- from waived amphitheatre rent, to parking, food and other concession revenue -- will go to various charities involved in relief efforts.

7:34 A.M. - OCALA, FL (AP): A homeowners association in Ocala, Florida, is apologizing for telling residents that subdivision rules would keep them from temporarily housing Hurricane Katrina evacuees.

The Majestic Oaks Homeowners Association says it made a serious error when it told residents that hosting families from the devastated Gulf Coast would violate deed restrictions.

Board members say they believed that having more than one family in a house for an extended period would violate subdivision covenants, exposing homeowners to litigation.

The board says they were well-intended but wrong.

Residents in the 500-home subdivision are now free to offer shelter to people who fled the storm's destruction.

7:33 A.M. - MARIETTA, GA (AP): A 36-year-old Georgia woman is in jail, facing felony theft charges after authorities say she lied about being an evacuee from New Orleans.

Officer Wayne Delk says the woman -- identified as Beretta Jo Hogg -- went to an American Red Cross shelter for evacuees of Hurricane Karina last week and told officials she and her eight-year-old son had lost everything in the hurricane.

She filled out paperwork and left the shelter with $1,300.

Later a woman who felt sorry for Hogg and the boy took them into her home. Police say while Hogg was sleeping, the woman talked to the boy -- who told her he attended a school in Stone Mountain.

The woman called 911.

7:32 A.M. - (AP): A National Guard engineer says it will be at least three months before New Orleans' public water system is fully operational.

Running water has been restored to some homes, but it's mostly untreated. The engineer says taking a bath right now is like jumping into the Mississippi River.

Southeast of New Orleans, residents have received disheartening news. A councilman in Saint Bernard Parish says no one should expect to live in the parish again before next summer. Before Katrina, its population was 66,000.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is expecting to house thousands of hurricane survivors in ``temporary cities'' made up of trailer homes. Most would be in Louisiana.

7:30 A.M. - WASHINGTON (AP): Lawmakers are looking at possible tax exemptions to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.

A package proposed in the Senate would let hurricane victims tap into their retirement accounts without penalty. It would also encourage people to donate things like cash, food and school books.

In the House, a tax relief bill also includes help for businesses as well as state and local governments trying to fix damaged property.

Senators say the tax relief measures could pass as quickly as this week.

7:15 A.M. - (AP): There have been countless stories of dramatic rescues of hurricane victims from their flooded homes in New Orleans.

Here's the story of a man who rescued himself. W. John Kenyatta is a web designer who works on Canal Street in New Orleans' central business district. He went to work the night before Katrina struck with the intent of "toughing it out"' for perhaps three days. Yesterday, two weeks after the hurricane, the floodwaters had subsided enough that he was able to emerge from his office building.

Kenyatta had real food at first: roasted chicken and potatoes. But after three days it was gone. The rest of the time he ate mints and little packets of sugar and strawberry jam.

Kenyatta is heading to Baton Rouge. But he says he will return because in his words, "the spirit of New Orleans will never die.''

7:00 A.M. - Bill Bailey, Insurance adjustor: I think a lot of creative thinking will be necessary to make sure everybody gets taken care of in the wake of Katrina.

6:28 A.M. - AUBURN, AL (AP): A team of Auburn University veterinarians is lending a hand to help many of Katrinas four-legged victims.

The two teams of AU vets will travel to Baton Rouge with eight animal technicians and ten veterinarians and will rotate out with other vets already on the scene.

Julie Gard, with the AU Large Animal Clinic, says the teams will spend three-to-five days there.

The teams expect to treat cuts, broken limbs, malnutrition, dehydration and provide vaccinations. In some cases, they will be faced with the decision to euthanize some animals.

Gard says some larger animals like horses that are treated in Baton Rouge will be taken by trailer to area farms in the Mississippi and Auburn areas after they are inventoried and documented in an effort to reunite them with their owners.

6:00 A.M. - KERNERSVILLE, NC (AP): A 22-year-old North Carolina woman faces a court date at the end of the month to answer to a charge of fraudulently soliciting money for the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

Heather Parrish of Kernersville was charged with one count of obtaining property by false pretense and one count of attempting to obtain property by false pretense.

Court records say Parrish claimed to be a member of the National Guard collecting money for the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts and obtained $20 from a man. She reportedly asked another woman for money.

The records say Parrish was not affiliated with the National Guard and did not have authority to collect donations on their behalf.

Parrish was released from custody after posting $500. Her court date is set for September 30.

4:50 A.M. - SPRINGFIELD, MA (AP): A Massachusetts armory is doing its part to help save the cultural history of Louisiana damaged in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The Springfield Armory will help preserve and restore 19 artifacts relating to the Battle of New Orleans. The collection was damaged by flooding at the Chalmette Battlefield Visitors Center.

Muskets, bayonets, pistols, swords and medallions have been shipped to Springfield.

The Battle of New Orleans in 1815 was a decisive American victory over the British at the end of the War of 1812. The battle actually was fought weeks after a treaty ending the war was signed in Europe.

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