WASHINGTON – The Federal Emergency Management Agency has sent four mobile morgues to the area struck by Hurricane Katrina. One unit is working in Louisiana, and the other three are en route or in staging areas, FEMA said Friday. Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Teams, known as DMORT, are made up of civilian volunteers who provide victim identification and mortuary services. The death toll in the storm remains uncertain, but officials have said it could be in the thousands.

French city rallies aid

PARIS – The French city of Orleans is rallying to help its hurricane-hit American namesake. The city south of Paris plans to donate money raised from ticket sales at local sports events to help hurricane victims in New Orleans, a statement from City Hall said Friday. Orleans and its university have also offered to take in 50 students from the University of New Orleans for the school year, the statement said.

Food stamp rules eased

WASHINGTON – The Agriculture Department has liberalized its food stamp program to expand and speed benefits to people displaced from their communities by Hurricane Katrina. The National Refugee Policy announced by the agency on Friday will allow people who normally do not qualify for the nutrition program to receive food stamps if they fled storm-damaged areas of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.

Call for a relief official

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., called Friday for President Bush to appoint a Cabinet-level official to direct the federal response to the devastation along the Gulf Coast caused by Hurricane Katrina. Landrieu said she asked Bush during his tour of New Orleans on Friday to act within 24 hours to put a single official in charge of the relief effort who would report directly to him.

A sign of normality

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – In an instant, parts of this ravaged city almost rejoined the 21st century. Two Wendy’s fast-food restaurants reopened, the dialysis center got power, and the electronic sliding doors of the Hawthorn Suites motel whooshed open. After four long days, the lights went on in sections of this southern Mississippi city. Just a few hours before, water started coming out of the taps. Granted, it was brown, but it was water all the same. And after a few minutes, it ran clear.

Canada sending relief

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia – Three Canadian warships and a coast guard vessel are being packed with relief supplies and will head toward Louisiana to aid hurricane relief efforts there, the defense minister said Friday. The ships, which will carry 1,000 personnel, were to depart from Halifax on Tuesday and arrive in the Gulf of Mexico three or four days later. Three Sea King helicopters will also be sent to ferry personnel into the devastated areas.

U.N. offers its expertise

UNITED NATIONS – Secretary-General Kofi Annan told President Bush on Friday that a U.N. task force was already at work in anticipation of U.S. requests for assistance and expertise in dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. At its first meeting, the task force determined that U.N. agencies are ready to provide water storage tanks, water purification tablets, high-energy biscuits, generators, planes, tents and other emergency supplies, as well as experienced staff members, U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said.

From Herald news services