How Are They Figuring Death Toll?

I am curious of how they are figuring the death toll.

Are the people who drowned 4 days after the storm counted?

Are the people who died of starvation and thirst at the convention center counted?

Are the looters shot by police counted?

Are the people who died in the hospital because of lack of electricity and medicine being counted?

Are they counting only directly from the storm?

Are they including the aftermath? (Flooding)

Are they including the people who were murdered from FEMA inaction?

An easy way for them to show a lower death toll is to eliminate some of these groups. A lower death toll makes them look better.