House Approves Another $51 Bln. in Katrina Aid

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he House Thursday approved an additional $51.8 billion in spending the Bush administration requested for additional relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, news services reported.

The $10.5 billion hurricane-relief measure the president signed Friday was set to run out on Thursday, the Associated Press reported.

In recent days, the government has spent more than $2 billion a day as it has paid out several big-ticket items such as contracts to provide housing for evacuees, AP reported.

Some of the money would go into a Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster relief fund that was offering storm survivors debit cards of $2,000 per household to families evacuated from homes in Louisiana and Mississippi.

FEMA anticipates handing out 320,000 cards, at a cost of $640 million, to help displaced residents buy clothing, transportation and other emergency supplies, AP reported.

Federal officials still had no estimate how many people had died in Katrina and the aftermath, news services reported, though some local officials have estimated the toll in the thousands.

Democrats pushed for an independent panel to investigate the disaster, similar to the 9/11 Commission that examined the government’s handling of security matters leading to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

Some estimates have pegged the total cost of Katrina at more than $200 billion.

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