A spokesman for the foreign ministry told the news agency yesterday that some Bangladeshi-American families and 15 Bangladeshi students live in New Orleans, the most severely affected city. They left the area before Katrina hit New Orleans.

Director General of the External Publicity Wing (DGEP) Zahirul Haque said that one medical doctor named Dr Hayder who was on call at the time of hurricane got stuck for over three days until he was rescued. "He is also fine."

Haque said there are three Bangladeshi families in Biloxi (Mississippi), another coastal city ravaged by the calamity. These storm-tossed families are now staying with their friends in adjacent states.

" We have been able to ascertain the whereabouts of two others--Dr Warisur Rahman and Dr Rana. Their houses have been completely destroyed by the hurricane," Haque said.

He said in Mobil (Alabama), some 40 Bangladeshis live and all of them quit the area before the hurricane hit and have now returned to their houses. No casualty has been reported from Mobil.

Haque said according to Prof Kabir Hasan of the University of New Orleans, most houses owned by Bangladeshi-Americans, including his own, were severely damaged. He, however, did not appear concerned as these houses are insured.

Dr Anwarul Haque of Birmingham (Alabama) informed the Bangladesh mission in Washington that the Bangladeshi-American professionals would easily get over the economic loss inflicted by the hurricane but it might cause problem for the ordinary workers as some 250,000 jobs have been lost due to this disaster.

" So far, we have no news of any Bangladeshi casualty. However, it is still too early to say anything definitely as the situation is evolving gradually. We are, however, monitoring the situation closely," the spokesman said.