Recovery teams in New Orleans are searching door-to-door for the dead from Hurricane Katrina -- while a top emergency official expresses hope the death toll could be less than the 10,000 some have feared.
Colonel Terry Ebbert, the city's homeland security director, said initial sweeps have turned up less bodies than expected, and the catastrophic deaths of some estimates may not have occurred.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin had suggested up to 10,000 people may have perished in the hurricane and ensuing flood.
New Orleans's city attorney, Sherry Landry, Friday said the city is fully secure, and police, national guard and army troops are conducting day and night missions to ensure order.
She said officials are not yet forcing evacuations, but stressed the mandatory evacuation order from the mayor remains in force.
The White House announced that President Bush is to travel to the devastated Gulf Coast region Sunday in his third visit surveying the damage.
More than 300 people have been confirmed dead in the entire hurricane-hit Gulf Coast.
Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.
