By the numbers

$8.9 billion

Total FEMA has already spent in Mississippi.

$3.2 billion

Total given other federal agencies to perform response and recovery tasks such as debris removal; blue roofs; water, ice and food; medical assistance and environmental assistance.

$2.5 billion

The amount of low-interest loans throughout Mississippi for homeowners, renters and business owners approved by the U. S. Small Business Administration.

*More than $2 billion in loans to 30,725 homeowners and renters

*Nearly $497 million to 4,215 businesses

*$18.4 million to 321 small businesses for working capital.

$2.4 billion

Amount paid by FEMA to 16,939 policyholders for flood claims through its National Flood Insurance Program.

$1.8 billion

Total Public Assistance given to communities and certain non-profit organizations to help recover from Hurricane Katrina, other than debris removal, includes:

*$283 million for emergency protective measures such as search and rescue, security, and shelters and emergency care

*$270 million to repair public facilities

*$230 million to restore public utilities

*$50 million to restore public recreational facilities such as state parks

*$24 million to repair roads and bridges

*$1.4 million to repair water control facilities.

$1.2 billion

Given to 274,425 Mississippi households to pay for rent, repair or Other Needs Assistance (ONA) through the Individuals and Households Programs.

*More than 133,493 Mississippi Katrina survivors have received nearly $408 million in ONA. ONA is a cost-share program that is 75 percent federally funded and 25 percent state funded.

$429 million

Slated for Mississippi through FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to take actions to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from natural hazards and their effects. Administered by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

$250 million

In Community Disaster Loans approved for local governments in Mississippi to help maintain essential services such as law enforcement, schools, and fire services.

$231 million

Provided to the Coast Guard for two major marine debris removal projects in the Mississippi Sound.

FEMA

45 million

The cubic yards of debris removed from public and private property. Land-based debris removal operations for the entire state of Mississippi are 99 percent complete.

518,000

Mississippians registered for assistance through FEMA.

508,589

Storm survivors visited FEMA's Disaster Recovery Centers since Katrina struck. FEMA established approximately 50 DRCs throughout the state.

65,480

Mississippians have flood insurance. That number grew by nearly 10,000 in one month this spring.

50,000

Temporary blue roofs were installed by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers through FEMA's Operation Blue Roof. FEMA assigned the mission to the Corps at a cost of $132 million.

48,000

Mississippi families have been provided travel trailers and mobile homes. Currently, 36,520 units are in use throughout Mississippi.

1,000

Volunteer agencies continue to send thousands of volunteers to help rebuild the lives, the homes and the spirits of those who lost so much to Hurricane Katrina.

24/7

The new Mississippi Maintenance Call Center is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week to assist applicants with mobile home and travel trailer maintenance issues. The call center number, 1-866-877-6075, is exclusively for applicants residing in Mississippi. Staff is trained to help applicants or direct them to those who can. To date, the center has received nearly 20,000 calls for assistance.

– Gannett News Service

Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2005

*Tropical depression forms around noon over southeastern Bahamas.

Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2005

*6 a.m. – Depression becomes Tropical Storm Katrina, 11th named storm of 2005. Katrina heads northwest.

Thursday, Aug. 25, 2005

*Katrina shifts direction, heads west for South Florida.

*3 p.m. – Katrina becomes Category 1 hurricane with 81 mph winds. Makes landfall within two hours at the Miami-Dade County-Broward County border.

*11 p.m. – Katrina enters southeast Gulf of Mexico after six hours over land, weakening to tropical storm.

Friday, Aug. 26, 2005

*Midnight – Katrina becomes a hurricane again. Maximum sustained winds reach 75 mph. Florida Keys experience heavy wind and rain.

*Forecasters predict storm will curve north and could make second landfall in Florida Panhandle. Mississippi and Louisiana officials still nervously monitor storm.

*Hattiesburg residents expect thousands of evacuees from areas the storm targets. In Louisiana, state officials declare state of emergency just in case storm heads its way.

Saturday, Aug. 27, 2005

*Midnight – Katrina begins rapid intensification. Winds reach 109 mph.

*6 a.m. – Storm reaches Category 3 status with 115 mph winds. Katrina is 365 nautical miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River.

*Katrina almost doubles in size, continues to move west and never turns northward. Forecasters move the projected path away from the Florida Panhandle and closer to Mississippi.

*National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield briefs President Bush, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and the Mississippi and Louisiana governors on the status of Katrina.

Sunday, Aug. 28, 2005

*6 a.m. – Katrina continues to rapidly intensify, becoming a Category 5 hurricane with 167 mph winds.

*9:30 a.m. – Bush calls Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and urges mandatory evacuation.

*10 a.m. – Blanco and Nagin order mandatory evacuation. National Hurricane Center predicts devastating damage and a doomsday scenario for New Orleans.

*Noon – Katrina's winds increase to 173 mph. The storm is about 170 nautical miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi and is taking direct aim at Southeast Louisiana and the Mississippi Coast.

*Katrina covers eastern Gulf of Mexico. Officials order residents of low-lying areas on Coast to evacuate, say Hancock County could experience a 25-foot storm surge.

*Storm evacuees clog U.S. 49 and Interstate 59. Drive from Hattiesburg to Jackson takes almost three hours. The closest available hotel rooms for evacuees are in Memphis.

*7 p.m. – Wal-Mart SuperCenter stores, all normally open 24 hours a day, close in Hattiesburg and Petal.

Monday, Aug. 29, 2005

*5:10 a.m. – Katrina makes landfall as a Category 3 hurricane near Buras, La., with sustained winds of 125 mph.

*Katrina's powerful northeast quadrant passes over the Mississippi Coast causing 27-foot storm surge, which penetrates six miles inland in many areas. In some areas, the surge reaches Interstate 10.

*Storm surge wipes out most structures along beach in Hancock and Harrison counties. Surge destroys U.S. 90 bridges linking Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian and linking Biloxi and Ocean Springs.

*Storm surge sends floodwaters into thousands of homes and businesses in Slidell and St. Tammany Parish, seriously damage Interstate 10 twin spans linking New Orleans and Slidell.

*Tornado warnings issued; 11 tornadoes reported in Mississippi. Southwest Mississippi gets 8-10 inches of rain; other areas receive about 4 inches of rain.

*8 a.m.– Storm surge rushes through the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, sending water over levees and flooding East New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish. Surge reaches Industrial Canal in New Orleans.

*8 a.m. – Strong winds hit Hattiesburg, parts of city without power.

*9 a.m. – 6-8 feet of water in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans.

*10 a.m. – Katrina makes second landfall of the day near Pearlington with winds of 120 mph. Eye passes over Slidell, La., while east eyewall passes over Bay St. Louis, Waveland with 120 mph winds.

*Winds and rain increase in Hattiesburg. Winds reach 100 mph. Trees snap power lines. Land-line phone service is out. Cell phone towers downed or damaged. Television and radio stations off the air.

*1 p.m. – Katrina weakens to a Category 1 hurricane after moving across South and Central Mississippi.

*2 p.m. – Officials confirm part of 17th Street Canal levee breaks in New Orleans, sending Lake Pontchartrain into the city.

*Storm claims seven lives in Forrest County

*Petal guardsman Josh Russell dies when vehicle strikes storm debris on Interstate 59.

*7 p.m. – Katrina weakens to a tropical storm somewhere northwest of Meridian.

Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005

*7 a.m. – Katrina becomes tropical depression over the Tennessee Valley; Gov. Haley Barbour, appearing on NBC's "Today" show, describes devastation on Mississippi Gulf Coast as enormous.

*8 a.m. – Pine Belt residents wait outside Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse for supplies. The store opens using generators. Other stores open include Economy Supply and Home Depot.

*Forrest General Hospital runs short of water and food, closing doors to everyone but staff, patients and their families. Wesley Medical Center, however, remains open.

*Power remains out across Pine Belt and may not be restored for weeks. Motorists panic over shortage of gasoline, spend hours at Hattiesburg-area stations waiting to fill tanks.

*Police implement zero-tolerance policy on looting and arrest two suspected looters. Police also arrest man on suspicion of murder in the shooting death of another; witness says the two argued over ice.

*Camp Shelby becomes command center for the military hurricane relief efforts; 100 soldiers from Fort Gillem, Ga., set up communications center.

*Trucks carrying hurricane

supplies arrive in Meridian; no one tells drivers where to go.

Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005

*Officials predict no power in Pine Belt for weeks. Water system remains down. Phone service still down. Dusk-to-dawn curfews remain in effect. Public schools stay closed the remainder of the week.

*At least 100 in Harrison County are dead. Relief and rescue teams continue to search for victims in rubble of homes and casinos that were tossed on shore by storm surge.

*About 80 percent of New Orleans under water. Lake Pontchartrain continues to pour into city. Some areas submerged in up to 20 feet of water. Emergency workers rescue residents stranded in attics and on roofs.

*Free ice and water offered in Pine Belt at Lake Terrace Convention Center; long lines of motorists tie up U.S. 49 traffic. Water restored in Hattiesburg; residents must boil before using.

Thursday, Sept. 1, 2005

*Residents told debris cleanup could take months. Dozens of insurance adjusters arrive in Hattiesburg. Ice, water, food in short supply; transportation, communication problems hinder efforts to restock stores.

*A Forrest General Hospital generator fails, forcing evacuation of some patients to Wesley Medical Center.

*Power, phone service remains out in Pine Belt. Gasoline remains in short supply, motorists wait in long lines for gas. Ice and water offered to hurricane victims at Lake Terrace Convention Center.

*New Orleans continues to fight flooding from Lake Pontchartrain; thousands feared dead.

*Search and rescue efforts continue on Mississippi Coast where the storm surge tossed floating casino barges onto land.

Friday, Sept. 2, 2005

*Evacuees stranded in Pine Belt begin to run out of cash; many don't know if they have a home or a job in Southeast Louisiana or the Mississippi Coast.

*About 95 percent of Lamar County's roads are now passable; less than half Hattiesburg streets are cleared of storm debris.

*Forty National Guard troops arrived in Forrest County to help with law enforcement and supply distribution. Barbour says scope of storm has overwhelmed emergency response systems.

*Forrest County reports six storm-related deaths. Pearl River County reports 17 deaths. Richton reports three. Mississippi Gulf Coast reports 147. New Orleans toll also rises.

*Episcopal minister Michael Osborne dies on Coit Street after being shot.

*National Guard soldiers begin patrol Hattiesburg streets in Humvees.

*At least 13 arrested for Hattiesburg looting since Monday.

*Hattiesburg police create makeshift pen to hold curfew violators.

*Bush tours the Gulf Coast.

Sunday, Sept. 4, 2005

*Bush visits Pearl River Community College in Poplarville.

*Ice distribution points in Hattiesburg are empty while 50 trucks of ice sit at Camp Shelby. Forrest County Sheriff Billy McGee commandeers one of the ice trucks; takes it to Brooklyn.

*Volunteers continue to arrive in Pine Belt.

*New Orleans remains underwater; storm victims evacuated from Louisiana Superdome shelter of last resort.

Monday, Sept. 5, 2005

*Pine Belt schools remain closed.

*Power, phones remain out in much of Pine Belt.

*Katrina costs USM $100 million in damages; classes remain out.

*Hattiesburg opens Hurricane Volunteer Assistance Center at Jackie Dole Sherrill Community Center.

*FEMA announces storm victims eligible for $2,000 in cash assistance.

*Mississippi Power crews restore electricity to 169,000 customers; rural electric associations' customers wait three to four more weeks.

*FEMA Director Michael Brown is removed from directing Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in New Orleans; replaced by Vice Admiral Thad W. Allen, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Coast Guard.

Monday, Sept. 12, 2005

*Brown resigns as director of FEMA.

Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2005

*President Bush takes responsibility for federal government mistakes dealing with Hurricane Katrina.

*Red Cross opens more assistance centers. The agency provides shelter, food, financial, mental health and medical assistance; demand so great, Red Cross issues tickets.

Saturday, Sept. 17, 2005

*Most residents have power restored except more than 39,000 customers of electric power associations. More than 6,400 Forrest and Lamar County residents don't have phone service.

Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2005

*Hurricane Katrina death toll to date: 1,213 with more than 2,500 still missing. Deaths by states: Louisiana 972, Mississippi 221, Florida 14, Alabama 2, Georgia 2, Tennessee 1, Kentucky 1.

Today

*Mississippi coastline remains devastated, with some casinos gradually reopening for business.

*Much of East New Orleans, Lakeview and Lower Ninth Ward remain uninhabitable; some homes are in the same state as when flood water receded.

*Hattiesburg and Pine Belt nearly back to normal with a few vestiges of storm still easily seen – business signs destroyed and some buildings demolished.