At least 30 found dead in nursing home

NEW ORLEANS:-Authorities in a suburban parish began retrieving the bodies of more than 30 people from a nursing home Wednesday, while New Orleans police prepared to start forcing the evacuation of up to 15,000 remaining residents.

St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Jack Stevens said said "30-plus" bodies were found in St. Rita's Nursing Home in lower St. Bernard Parish -- one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

The parish is east of New Orleans, where Mayor Ray Nagin has authorized police to forcibly remove anyone not involved in rescue efforts.

Police Superintendent Eddie Compass said, however, that his officers would not forcibly remove residents until all those who want to leave voluntarily are out.

Compass said police and troops were moving into new areas of the city as floodwaters receded.

A Louisiana National Guard officer told reporters that authorities believe between 10,000 and 15,000 residents remained in the flooded city.

The number of confirmed deaths in Louisiana was 71 as of earlier Wednesday. Officials have said they believe the storm and its aftermath may have killed thousands of people in the state.

The Bush administration Wednesday asked Congress to approve a $51.8 billion emergency bill to help fund recovery efforts, and the White House budget chief said "substantially more" money will likely be needed.

The disaster area left by Katrina covers the Gulf Coast from southeast Louisiana to Mobile, Alabama -- and at least 150 miles inland.

Other states were shouldering some of the burden by taking in evacuees and sending crews to help in search and recovery, cleanup and shelter operations.

More than 1 million people evacuated the region in advance of Katrina. Tens of thousands of survivors were carried away from flooded neighborhoods and the Louisiana Superdome last week.

To help them rebuild, the federal government will begin issuing to survivors debit cards worth $2,000 and up, FEMA chief Mike Brown said.

In Mississippi, authorities blame Katrina for 154 deaths, and the toll is expected to rise, the state's governor told a House committee Wednesday.

Appearing by video, Gov. Haley Barbour told lawmakers that authorities have rescued about 5,000 people.

He said search and rescue efforts were not "as fast as we wanted," but he attributed that to the scope of the devastation

Some Mississippians -- including Hattiesburg Mayor Johnnie Dupree -- have complained that FEMA's bureaucracy prevented some needed supplies from reaching their destinations.