As US congress hurried toward approval of a €41.8bn emergency hurricane aid package, US President Bush George today mapped a plan to get a wide range of government benefits – from medical care to job training – to storm victims who have scattered around the US.

MISSISSIPPI’S hurricane survivors fear their plight has been overshadowed by the focus on New Orleans.

Days after Hurricane Katrina inundated much of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, massive aid is arriving, yet with people still clinging to dry areas hoping for rescue, questions have arisen about the level of preparedness and response.

Rescuers along the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast pushed aside the dead to reach the living in a race against time and rising waters, while New Orleans sank deeper into crisis and Louisiana’s governor ordered storm refugees out of this drowning city.

Rick Wilking, New Orleans

Terri Schiavo’s husband buried her cremated remains, inscribing on her bronze grave marker: “I kept my promise.”

APPREHENSIVE coastal residents from Florida’s Panhandle to Louisiana started boarding up windows, packing and hitting the road as powerful Hurricane Ivan headed for the Gulf Coast after ploughing across Cuba.