NEW ORLEANS - Debbie Shifter faces the daunting task of whipping up Thanksgiving dinner for 18 in the tiny kitchen of her FEMA trailer.

An urban search and rescue team from Phoenix departed for the Gulf Coast on Tuesday to help people coping with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

A Chandler-based distributor of satellite telephones is rushing communications equipment to the ravaged Gulf Coast, which lost most of its conventional land line and cellular telephone service to Hurricane Katrina.

A national group of beltmakers that planned to hold its annual meeting at the Sheraton New Orleans in October booked the gig at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort on the Gila River Indian Community.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Christmas wreaths and holiday parties gave way to king cakes and street parades as the Carnival season kicked off this weekend along the Gulf Coast.

PENSACOLA, Fla. — Schools closed, residents of low-lying areas sought shelter and Florida's governor declared a state of emergency Monday as a late-season tropical storm churned toward the Gulf Coast.

BATON ROUGE, La. - The Gulf Coast watched anxiously as Hurricane Ike trudged toward areas still cleaning up after Gustav, with disasters pre-declared in much of eastern Texas and Louisianans urged to stock up - again - on supplies.

HOUSTON - Authorities in the Houston area and along the Southeast Texas Gulf Coast are ordering hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Ike.

KEY WEST, Fla. - With powerful Hurricane Ike on an uncertain course toward the Gulf of Mexico, many on these low-lying islands took a wait-and-see approach to evacuating Sunday, perhaps a harbinger of attitudes to come from Gulf Coast residents returning from an arduous evacuation and already showing signs of "hurricane fatigue."

GALVESTON, Texas - A helicopter crew found five of six missing regatta competitors alive early Sunday after their boat was found capsized in the Gulf of Mexico, a Coast Guard spokeswoman said.

GULFPORT, Miss. - President Bush on Monday marked the anniversary of the hurricane that still haunts his presidency with worries that a new tropical storm could bring the first test of his promise that the botched post-Katrina response will not be repeated.

NEW ORLEANS - Surrounded by evidence of the incomplete recovery from Hurricane Katrina, President Bush on Thursday tried to calm fears across the Gulf Coast that another monster storm could be lurking in the upcoming hurricane season.

NEW ORLEANS - Hurricane Katrina plowed into the Gulf Coast at daybreak Monday with shrieking, 145-mph winds and blinding rain, submerging entire neighborhoods up to the rooflines in New Orleans, hurling boats onto land and sending water pouring into Mississippi's strip of beachfront casinos

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The U.S. Air Force will send 300 airmen home from Iraq and Afghanistan to help their families cope with emergencies on an air base devastated by Hurricane Katrina in Biloxi, Miss., a spokesman said Saturday.

COVINGTON, La. - President Bush pledged Tuesday that the federal government will not seek to dictate terms for rebuilding the hurricane-devastated Gulf Coast but will instead allow state and local officials to make the key decisions.

NEW YORK - Six weeks after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, Ben Affleck is urging continued contributions to the relief effort. The actor has donated several items - including a "Good Will Hunting" script he and Matt Damon signed - to an online charity auction by Charity Folks and Citizens Helping Heroes.

WASHINGTON - Singer Harry Connick Jr. urged lawmakers Thursday to spare no expense in rebuilding New Orleans and making Gulf Coast citizens safe in their homes.

VERACRUZ, Mexico - Hurricane Stan barreled into Mexico's Gulf coast Tuesday, pummeling this major port city with heavy rain and punishing waves, and forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents and several offshore oil platforms.