The number of service people displaced by Hurricane Katrina was still being calculated more than two weeks after the storm devastated coastal Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

When military victims of Katrina finally are counted, they likely will outnumber the 72,000 National Guard and active-duty forces deployed to the tri-state area to assist with rescue, relief and security operations.

But what military communities have that others might lack during catastrophes are proven command structures, their own emergency relief societies, solid family support systems and robust information networks.

Like countless other Katrina victims, military folks suffered great losses. Military evacuees needed food, shelter, clothing and advice on restoring order to their lives.

But days before Katrina hit, military relief societies had begun to help families ordered to evacuate with offers of interest-free loans. Bases outside Katrina's path prepared to receive thousands of military evacuees.

After the storm, the Defense Department granted "alternative safe haven" authority to families of military and defense employees to relocate anywhere within the continental United State for up to six months with per diem payments to cover their lodging, meals and incidental expenses.

An estimated 350,000 active duty and reserve, military retirees and service dependents reside in counties hit by Katrina. That figure includes the southern Florida counties through which Katrina passed before intensifying over the Gulf of Mexico.

Humana Military Healthcare Services, TRICARE contractor for the southern region, estimates that 136,000 military beneficiaries have been displaced. TRICARE beneficiaries in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama can reach Humana at (800) 444-5445 or online at: www.humana-military.com.

Other resources are available to military people through Military One Source at (800) 342-9647 or online at www.mili taryonesource.com.

Most displaced service families are connected to the Air Force, Navy or Coast Guard. Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., ordered 14,000 students, staff and civilian workers evacuated, leaving 2,000 "essential" personnel to protect the base and restore vital operations. Keesler suffered heavy damage with at least 1,000 of 1,800 housing units destroyed. Its hospital was flooded, and even if a serious mold problem can be avoided, the facility likely will take months to reopen.

John Alexander, with the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, said his group had approved loans or grants of $1.4 million to more than 3,700 "clients" from Gulfport and Pascagoula, Miss., expected to resettle in areas such as Fort Worth, Texas; Houston; and Pensacola, Fla.

Tom Omri, director of Coast Guard Mutual Assistance, said his group has paid $536,000 in emergency money so far to displaced families. He estimated that up to 5,000 Coast Guard military and civilian workers, reservists, retirees and family members were in Katrina's path.