Bush touring Hurricane-ravaged areas
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-12 22:16

President Bush got his first exposure Monday to the on-the-ground leadership of the federal government's new hurricane relief chief, nodding in apparent satisfaction at what he saw, the Associated Press reported.

President Bush greets firefighters while visiting a first-responders base camp in Algiers, La., on the outskirts of New Orleans, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2005. Bush returned to the Gulf coast region to see first-hand the ongoing recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina. [AP]

Bush, on a two-day visit to hurricane-affected areas, started the day with a briefing on the federal response effort aboard the 844-foot USS Iwo Jima, a command center for military operations. The slideshow presentation, which covered the latest relief and recovery efforts in three states, was conducted in the ship's ward room by Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen, who replaced embattled FEMA Director Michael Brown as federal hurricane commander last Friday.

Bush was seated between New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco — both of whom have been critical of the federal response in Hurricane Katrina's wake. The president, who hasn't said a public word since arriving in the region Sunday afternoon, remained silent during a brief period in which reporters were allowed to witness the briefing.

But White House chief of staff Andrew Card said "I have great confidence" in the team now running the federal effort.

Later Monday, Bush was getting a lengthy look at New Orleans' damaged and flooded neighborhoods from a convoy of military trucks. Later, he was to tour hard-hit surrounding parishes by helicopter, touching down to meet with local leaders, and then was traveling to Gulfport, Miss.

It was Bush's first up-close look in the two weeks since Katrina smashed into the Gulf Coast and drowned this storied city. He had visited on ground last week in Mississippi and at the New Orleans airport and had made two previous airborne inspection tours.

After arriving in New Orleans Sunday, Bush traveled through the nearly deserted town to visit "Tent City," the campus of the Our Lady of Holy Cross College that is now the massive staging area for hundreds of weary and dirty but enthusiastic firefighters from around the country. They included New York City firemen who brought back a truck that the state of Louisiana and private donors gave after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The president spent Sunday night aboard the Iwo Jima, a military amphibious assault ship docked in the Mississippi River just behind the city's convention center — now eerily empty but still strewn with piles of trash — that was the scene of so much misery in the days after the storm.

The trip is Bush's third and longest to the disaster area, and it came as the White House is eager to show the president displaying hands-on, empathetic leadership in the storm effort. More than half of respondents in an Associated Press-Ipsos poll last week said he is at fault for the slow response.

Card said Bush's repeated visits have tangible value: "It reminds people of the mission at hand."

Bush has seen flooded New Orleans twice from the air — from aboard Air Force One on the way back to the White House from his Texas ranch two days after Katrina hit, and again from a helicopter two days after that when he made his first on-the-ground visit to storm-ravaged areas of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.

Although he stopped at the New Orleans airport and went to the site of one of the breached levees on the edge of the city, Bush had stayed far from the epicenter of the city's suffering.

The city's devastation is immense.

Still, the situation has improved markedly in the last week. Law and order has been restored to New Orleans and looting curtailed; the Superdome and city convention center, the scene of so much misery while storm evacuees waited for days for buses out with no food and water, are empty; the water level is going down as workers begin to drain the city; and some power is being restored.

In Mississippi, the president was scheduled to spend about an hour and a half on the ground, making two stops before returning to Washington.

Many of Gulfport's streets are still littered with the debris of the storm, which put trees, cars, furniture, boats, homes and even casinos in places they should not be, and shortages of necessities are common.

But the ravaged town has seen a little improvement as well — with some businesses open and people buying supplies to make repairs.

Democrats have not been shy about seizing on the discontent with Bush's performance.

"Sadly, the federal government's lack of preparation followed by its inept response had deadly consequences for far too many Americans in Katrina's path," party Chairman Howard Dean said.

Sen. Mary Landrieu (news, bio, voting record), D-La., said it is unfortunate that the White House has undertaken a "full-court press" to deflect blame for the poor early response to the storm away from the Bush administration and onto state and local officials.

Bush spokesman Scott McClellan responded: "What we're trying to do is work together with state and local officials to meet the needs of the people in the region."