STS-107 Mishap Response Status Report #4<br />Friday, February 14, 2003 - 5 p.m. CST<br /><br />The search continued for debris from Columbia, though efforts were hampered<br />by rain in parts of East Texas. More rain was forecast for the area. As of<br />early Friday, the westward boundary of the debris field remained just west<br />of the Fort Worth, Texas area. Still, teams continued to investigate reports<br />of debris as far west as California.<br /><br />The Federal Emergency Management Agency reported that the Shuttle debris<br />recovery operations were proceeding well. FEMA said 74 percent of sites in<br />Texas and 89 percent of sites in Louisiana had been cleared.<br /><br /><br />About 400 Forest Service searchers were expected to join the effort by<br />Monday, and that number was expected to increase to 2,000 by Feb. 20, FEMA<br />said. Other federal, state and local emergency workers supported Shuttle<br />disaster operations. Twenty-four of them worked in searches outside Texas<br />and Louisiana.<br /><br /><br />Navy divers and their equipment were at Toledo Bend Reservoir on the Sabine<br />River, which separates Texas and Louisiana. The Navy had taken control of<br />water recovery operations and was expected to focus first on Toledo Bend and<br />then on other lakes in the affected area. Water searches were expected to<br />take about 45 days.<br /><br /><br />Members of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board flew to Marshall Space<br />Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., this morning after two days at Kennedy<br />Space Center. The trip was designed to familiarize members with operations<br />at the two NASA centers. In addition, members on Saturday were to visit the<br />Michoud Operations facility near New Orleans, where shuttle external tanks<br />are fabricated. The board planned to return to Houston Saturday night.<br /><br /><br />For more information about NASA on the Internet, see:: http://www.nasa.gov.