WASHINGTON (AP) – President Bush declared a state of emergency in Maine and New Hampshire on Monday, paving the way for federal aid to help victims of Hurricane Katrina who have relocated temporarily to the two states.

Last week, New Hampshire was prepared to host 500 evacuees, at the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

But FEMA later withdrew the request, saying most evacuees wanted to stay closer to their homes in Louisiana and Mississippi.

American Red Cross chapters in New Hampshire estimate 70 to 128 families have come to New Hampshire to stay with relatives or friends. Some evacuees also have come to Maine on their own.

But authorities doubt there will be any large-scale migration because Northern New England’s culture and cold weather are so foreign to most of those who lost their homes in the flooding that followed the hurricane.