/ Katrina Recovery

06:46 PM EDT on Wednesday, September 7, 2005

By VALERIE BAUMAN / Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. — Search and rescue crews on the coast of Mississippi keep looking for victims of Hurricane Katrina, but as the state's death toll topped 200, the focus shifted from saving lives to recovering bodies.

The teams are starting to search through the debris more thoroughly as they look for the dead, but they are still hoping to find survivors.

"If there's one miracle out there, we're looking for it," said Joe Spraggins, the Harrison County Emergency Management director.

The hurricane death toll in Mississippi stood at 201 Wednesday, with officials expecting it to increase.

People who have lived through the hurricane may still need to worry about disaster-related illnesses and death. Gov. Haley Barbour spoke to the House Energy and Commerce Committee by video conference about four deaths in the last four days caused by a "vibrio type diarrheal disease."

The Centers for Disease and the state health department said it is not contagious and typically transmitted through food, water, or an open wound.

Despite mounting health concerns and various government agencies insisting that little is left along the coast, many residents have expressed frustration that they haven't had to access their homes yet. The National Guard has stopped some people as they tried to return to look for any remaining personal possessions.

But at least one entry point in Gulfport was open Wednesday, and residents and business owners who showed proof that they owned property in the area were allowed to enter.

Spraggins said officials are working to ensure that homeowners will be able to get to their destroyed property. Unfortunately the access is not uniform from one city to the next along the coast.

"No one is going in there and bulldozing your house down just because they want to get it out of the way," Spraggins said. "I can promise you that."

U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., said about 300 travel trailers and 100 mobile homes will be transported from Selma, Ala., to south Mississippi for homeless Hurricane Katrina victims.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will process applicants for the temporary homes, Lott said.

"Mississippians who have been without roofs over their heads for more than a week are grateful to the president, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and FEMA that this first installment of shelter is on the way," Lott said. "And we're hopeful that a much larger wave will be close behind."

Meanwhile, the government will distribute debit cards worth $2,000 to victims of the hurricane that will allow them to purchase food, transportation, gas and other essentials.

One card will be given to each household, and recipients must have been forced from their homes due to Hurricane Katrina.

The unprecedented program, which will distribute $13 billion from the federal Disaster Relief Fund, will set up registration centers in shelters in Houston and Dallas. It was not clear Wednesday when, or if, victims in Mississippi will have access to the debit cards.

About 258,000 homes and businesses across the state are still without power. That's an improvement from the approximately 800,000 without power immediately after Katrina hit the state.

On Thursday, Mississippi House and Senate leaders are planning to meet -- separately -- to discuss the state's response to Katrina.

Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck and Senate committee chairmen will meet with the governor, Treasurer Tate Reeves, leaders of the Department of Finance and Administration and other experts to discuss the storm's financial impact on the state.

Speaker Billy McCoy and House leaders will meet on the other end of the Capitol to discuss storm response.

Leaders of the two chambers gave differing reasons about why they're not meeting together. The House and Senate eventually will have to work together to pass any legislation.

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Associated Press reporters David Royse and Emily Wagster Pettus contributed to this story.