JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Search and rescue crews on the Mississippi coast keep looking for victims of Hurricane Katrina, but as the state's death toll topped 200 on the 10th day after the storm, the focus has shifted from saving lives to recovering bodies.
The teams are starting to dig 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 said four people died in the last four days from a ''vibrio type diarrheal disease.''
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state Health Department said the disease is not contagious and is typically transmitted through food or water. People with immune deficiencies like HIV and cirrhosis of the liver and those with open wounds are the most vulnerable, Barbour said.
Despite mounting health concerns and widespread destruction and damage, many residents have expressed frustration that they haven't had access to 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 residents 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 federal 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 across the country. FEMA spokeswoman Natalie Rule said evacuees can also get the debit cards by calling 1-800-621-FEMA or going to the agency's web site at http://www.fema.gov.
Only 61,000 people in Mississippi had applied for government assistance through the FEMA system by Wednesday evening, but far more are eligible, the governor said. Hurricane victims must apply to receive the help they need, he said.
''If you don't apply, you don't get any benefits,'' Barbour said.
The governor gave state agency heads the authority to offer state employees administrative leave with pay if they have been affected by Hurricane Katrina. All agency directors must determine on a case-by-case basis whether non-essential employees will receive the paid leave.
''Some state employees don't even have a building or structure to go to every day,'' Barbour said in a news release. ''It is our hope that this will provide some relief to our employees on the coast and south Mississippi, and help ensure that the state of Mississippi retains its work force.''
About 258,000 homes and businesses across the state were still without power Wednesday. That's an improvement from the approximately 800,000 without power immediately after Katrina hit the state Aug 29.
On Thursday, Mississippi House and Senate leaders will meet at the Capitol 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.
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Associated Press reporter David Royse in Gulfport contributed to this report.
