President George W Bush has declared a state of emergency in eight more US states, struggling to cope with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Three states - Louisiana, Mississipi and Alabama - were declared major disaster areas just hours after Katrina struck a week ago.
Today's order should mean that states like Oklahoma and North Carolina get emergency federal funding to help refugees from the disaster zone.
Mr Bush earlier promised that the US will 'do what it takes' to help victims of Hurricane Katrina get back on their feet.
Mr Bush was addressing dozens of storm victims at a prayer centre in Baton Rouge, in Louisiana.
It is his second visit in three days to the disaster zone. His administration has received severe criticism for its response to the crisis.
The president, who has spearheaded an aggressive public relations offensive in the face of fury at what critics called
Washington's too little, too late reaction, is also due to travel to Poplarville, Mississippi.
Rescue & Recovery continue
Operations are continuing to try to rescue survivors and to recover bodies, although officials still warn that the death toll from Hurricane Katrina across the Gulf state region could stretch into thousands.
Mobile morgues have begun an operation to lift the stench of death from the streets of New Orleans where victims of Hurricane Katrina have been left to rot for a week.
Refrigerated trucks followed soldiers, police and other emergency personnel on a grim mission to collect perhaps thousands of bodies in the flood waters, on street corners and in homes where
whole families died and have yet to be found.
Bodies had been left to float in the streets because rescuers
were told to concentrate on the search for survivors.
Further row over delays
A row has broken out over the briefings given by President Bush’s officials over the weekend that blamed Louisiana State and local officials for the delays in getting relief supplies to the victims.
Unnamed officials who were quoted in the Washington Post directed blame at the Governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco, accusing her of being too slow to ask for outside help.
A Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu, a Democrat, has threatened President Bush with violence if the White House levels any more criticism at authorities in the State.
