12:30 a.m.: Mayor: Those Left In New Orleans Will Be Forced To Leave
New Orleans residents who are staying in their homes may be forced to leave, after the city's mayor issued an emergency declaration late Tuesday night.

Ray Nagin has authorized police and other law enforcement to force the evacuation of all residents who refuse to leave. The declaration includes anyone who is on private property or who simply doesn't want to leave.

The order grants an exception for government officials who are helping out with the relief effort.

This comes after some citizens refused to leave with evacuation crews.

A city police captain confirms the declaration but said officers haven't started removing anyone by force as of late Tuesday night. -- Associated Press

6:20 p.m.: Texas Offering Jobs For Louisiana Teachers
Louisiana school teachers displaced to Texas by Hurricane Katrina could soon have jobs one state over. The Texas Education Agency is making special accommodations to allow retirees and displaced Louisiana teachers into classrooms.

Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley says that in the coming days and weeks she expects as many as 70,000 evacuee students to enroll in Texas schools. More than 6,000 such students enrolled in Texas schools last week.

The Texas Board for Educator Certification Tuesday approved a measure that would expedite application and background checks on potential teachers. Teaching certification records in Louisiana, which were kept online, were spared from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina. Applications fees will be waived for Louisiana teachers looking for similar employment in Texas. -- Associated Press

5:34 p.m.: Utilities Fight To Bring Back Power
Utility officials say it could take months to restore power to some storm-ravaged areas along the Gulf Coast, especially those still under water.

One top manager at Entergy Corporation described the situation as "pretty brutal out there." Entergy has set up three Hurricane Katrina command centers to help restore electricity in Louisiana and Mississippi, where more than a million customers lost power.

There are 10,000 workers in the field, including those from 20 states and several Canadian provinces. -- Associated Press

5:23 p.m.: Michael Jackson Plans Song For Victims
Michael Jackson has written a song to help raise funds for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Jackson's spokeswoman said he will ask other musicians to join him in recording the song, tentatively titled, "From the Bottom of My Heart."

The pop star hopes to record it within two weeks in the style of "We Are the World," which he co-wrote and produced in 1985 to raise money for famine relief efforts in Africa. -- Associated Press

5:06 p.m.: Evacuees Moved To Upscale Hotel In San Diego
Nearly 80 Hurricane Katrina evacuees are enjoying a bit of luxury at one of the San Diego's most posh hotels. The group spent Monday night free of charge in the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, a giant waterfront hotel where rooms typically begin at $200 a night. It's a big step up from the high school gymnasium where the evacuees spent the previous night.

Businessman David Perez brought the families Sunday from Baton Rouge to San Diego on a chartered Boeing 737. On Labor Day, Perez treated them to a barbecue dinner before they checked into their hotel rooms.

Perez, an oil-and-gas exploration company executive, offered to pay for the 30 rooms but the hotel donated four nights, meals included. -- Associated Press

3:30 p.m.: Tulane Athletes Relocate To Other Schools
Tulane's athletic teams that have been displaced by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina have been relocated to other universities where they will attend classes. They will continue to compete under the Tulane banner.

The football team has been working out at SMU in Dallas, but will move to Louisiana Tech in Ruston, La.

Tulane's men's basketball team, volleyball, swimming and diving and women's soccer teams are going to Texas A & M. The women's basketball team and the baseball team are going to Texas Tech. The tennis team will call Rice home, while the golf teams will be at SMU.

In all, 243 athletes will be accommodated. -- Associated Press

3:08 p.m.: Search Crews Look For Those Still Alive

"It's full of rot. It's full of chemicals. It's just the most revolting soup you can imagine," said a reporter Tuesday who was trying to describe the stench from the water that fills the streets in much of New Orleans.

Warren Levinson, of Associated Press Radio, accompanied a search and rescue team door-to-door in one neighborhood Tuesday in the city.

He reported that a number of people found alive in some apartment buildings were determined to stay, only to eventually agree to leave. One man said, after seeing the destruction, he's glad to be getting away.

Levinson reported that the smell that hit him and the searchers when they knocked down some apartment doors showed there is more in there "than rotting food." He added there will be "some really awful discoveries when the waters finally recede." -- Associated Press

3:04 p.m.: Rumsfled Says Military Can Fight War, Help Victims, Too

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the U.S. military can handle two formidable tasks at hand: fighting the war on terror and helping victims of Hurricane Katrina.

At a news conference Tuesday, Rumsfeld said there's no question that the U.S. has "the forces, the capability and the intention" to respond to needs at home and abroad.

"We can and will do both," he said.

Pentagon officials say more than 58,000 active duty and National Guard personnel are in the area affected by Katrina. Rumsfeld said there are also more than 300,000 Air and Army National Guard personnel available to help if needed.

Rumsfeld was asked about whether the large commitment of troops to the Iraq conflict hindered the military's response to Katrina.

"Anyone who's saying that doesn't understand the situation," he said. -- Associated Press

2:40 p.m.: Some Residents Still Refuse To Leave

Amid all of the hardships, the devastation and the warnings, there are still those who refuse to leave their homes in New Orleans.

One man, 69-year-old John Ebanks, sits on his porch with his dog, watching the rescue boats go by. He has plenty of supplies with him, including a lot of mosquito spray. And he said he's not going anywhere.

"You've got to protect your property," he said.

He says he's too old to start over. A rescue team warned him that the water around his house was so bad, "the fish are dying." When he refused to go with them, they wrote down his name and moved on.

The water is as high as 7 feet in some neighborhoods, and it's tainted from decomposing bodies, fuel and refuse. A member of the Kentucky Air National Guard said he tells people the water is "pretty much sewer water at this point."

Some of the holdouts have pets they refuse to leave behind. One man, angry at police who told him he had to leave, asked, "Where were they during the hurricane?" -- Associated Press

2:38 p.m.: Fund Set Up By Former Presidents Raises $1 Million In First Day

A fund set up by former Presidents Bush and Clinton to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims raised more than $1 million online in its first 24 hours.

Both presidents were in Houston Monday to announce kickoff for the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund.

Tens of thousands of Katrina refugees from Louisiana are being housed in shelters across Texas, including the Astrodome.

More than 30 corporate donations were pledged to the fund when it was announced. Officials said since then, more than 5,000 individuals have donated online.

Former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, live in Houston. -- Associated Press

1:19 p.m.: Nagin Says Only 60 Percent Of City Under Water

The mayor of New Orleans said he's seeing "significant" progress in his city, now about 60 percent under water.

That figure would be down from 80 percent during the darkest days of last week. Mayor Ray Nagin made the estimate fresh from an aerial tour of the flooded town.

With a major levee break finally plugged, engineers have been struggling today to pump out the water, still as high as 7 feet in some places.

Nagin described the latest progress as "rays of light," but he and other authorities say they're bracing for the horrors the receding waters and toxic muck are certain to reveal. Nagin has said the city's death toll could reach 10,000. -- Associated Press

12:49 p.m.: Evacuees Housed In At Least 18 States

More than 485 Red Cross shelters have been opened in 18 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia, with more on standby.

The Red Cross also is coordinating with other agencies the mass sheltering operation at the Houston Astrodome, and is working with local partners to find additional facilities.

More than 142,000 evacuees are being sheltered by the American Red Cross. More than 3.3 million meals and more than 9.9 million snacks have been served to survivors of Hurricane Katrina. -- Associated Press

10:00 a.m.: Fire Erupts In A Historic New Orleans District
A blaze erupted in a historic New Orleans district of mostly wooden homes. National Guardsmen cordoned off the area in the lower Garden District as New Orleans firefighters battled the blaze. -- Associated Press

8:40 a.m.: Hospital System Seeks 350 Patients
The chief of the LSU public hospital system is trying to track approximately 350 patients transferred by FEMA officials to be evacuated from New Orleans. Don Smithburg, of the LSU Health Care Services Division, said he's heard unverified reports that patients from the system's Charity and University hospitals in New Orleans could be scattered throughout Louisiana, other nearby states and as far away as Michigan and South Carolina. He said he does know where the hospitals' 28 babies went, as well as a few patients who were on ventilators.

The LSU system oversees the operations of Louisiana's charity hospitals across the state. Smithburg said LSU hospital officials were advised by FEMA to go to the American Red Cross for information on locating the New Orleans patients. He said the Red Cross is still trying to take a census of who went where -- a complex project expected to take some time.

Officials with hospitals, shelters, long-term care facilities and any other facilities that have taken patients evacuated from Charity or University hospitals in New Orleans are asked to call LSU hospital headquarters at (800) 735-1185. -- Associated Press

7:40 a.m.: Mayor Nagin Proclaims Major Pump Could Be Repaired Soon
The mayor of New Orleans is hopeful the city's most powerful pump will be working within a couple of days. Ray Nagin said two pumps already are working to get the water out of the city, now that a broken levee has been repaired. But Nagin said many problems still exist. He told NBC's "Today" show that a lot of gas is still leaking and some residents refuse to leave, despite the danger. Then there's the challenge of recovering bodies. Nagin said firefighters have reported seeing them while making rescues. Nagin said he is not sure how many died in the hurricane and flood, but added, "It's going to be awful and it's going to wake the nation up again." As for the federal response, Nagin said he's, "gone from anger to despair to seeing us turn the corner." -- Associated Press

6:11 a.m.: Half Of Refineries Knocked Out Close To Restarting
There's a bit of good news for consumers smarting from the sharp rise in gasoline costs. Half of the Gulf Coast refineries damaged by Hurricane Katrina plan to begin to restart production this week. Eight major refineries that produce gasoline, diesel and jet fuel and heating oil were knocked out of commission and the output at two others was cut by last week's killer hurricane and flooding. That reduced overall U.S. refining capacity by more than 10 percent. Four of the refineries are expected to resume this week. When the four are running at 100 percent, they represent more than 1 million barrels of refined oil product a day. -- Associated Press

6:10 a.m.: Barbara Bush Says Relocation 'Working Very Well'
Former first lady Barbara Bush is getting attention for some of the comments she made about New Orleans evacuees who are now in Houston. In an interview with the American Public Media program "Marketplace," she said the relocation is "working very well" for some of those forced out of New Orleans. She noted that many of the people at the Astrodome were "underprivileged anyway." Her comments came as former Presidents Bush and Clinton visited with hundreds of storm victims and announced the creation of the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund. -- Associated Press

6:07 a.m.: Flood Waters Recede
As the waters in New Orleans are pumped back into Lake Pontchartrain, authorities are bracing for another dose of tragedy to be revealed. The Army Corps of Engineers is pumping water out, after closing a major gap in the levee that breached during Hurricane Katrina, flooding 80 percent of the bowl-shaped city. While pumping is likely going to take weeks, officials are expecting to find a layer of toxic sludge and bodies once the water is gone. The mayor says 10,000 dead wouldn't be unreasonable. -- Associated Press

5:12 a.m.: Air Force Concludes Medical Evacuation
The air evacuation of elderly and seriously ill people from New Orleans' Louis Armstrong International Airport is drawing to a close. There were at least 75 flights each day from Thursday through Sunday. On Monday, only one Air Force C-130 cargo plane flew in with a medical team and supplies. The doctors, paramedics and flight nurses arrived just before midnight at the nearly deserted airport and discovered there were no patients left to evacuate. The plane dropped off a load of medicine and other equipment. -- Associated Press

3:57 a.m.: New Orleans' Newest Jail Opens
Authorities at New Orleans makeshift jail said they expect the number of inmates to grow. Only about 30 prisoners are being housed at the converted bus and train station right now, but police from neighboring Jefferson Parish may deliver inmates they had held the past few days. Nearly 8,000 prisoners were transported out of New Orleans jails last week and moved to state prisons and jails in neighboring towns. -- Associated Press

3:14 a.m.: Don't Count Mardi Gras Out
There's still deep water and untold human misery in New Orleans but there's already talk of Mardi Gras. It is, after all, a city that loves to party, and some people think there may yet be a scaled back version of the pre-Lenten bash come February. Over the weekend, about two dozen people in beads, hula skirts and wigs danced down Bourbon Street in a symbolic show that life must go on. -- Associated Press