Reading Article
Bush spends a day, Katrina lingers on
(08-29) 04:00 PDT New Orleans — On the eve of the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, President Bush returned to the devastated region on Monday promising to continue federal assistance and, with his presidency still marred by the slow government response to the storm, eagerly pointed out signs of progress in reconstructing the Gulf Coast.
But the hopeful signs were scant in some spots. And as another storm rolled toward Florida, with thousands of victims from Katrina still uprooted, Bush admitted there were “a lot of problems left.”
Winding his way through tattered towns in Mississippi on his way to New Orleans, Bush spent the day demonstrating empathy and optimism, touring rebuilt areas and meeting with local officials and residents in his 13th trip to the area since the storm.
The journey marked an attempt to recast Bush’s image from last year, when he lingered on the West Coast before cutting short his vacation to deal with one of the most significant crises of his administration. His popularity was severely damaged after the storm, which killed about 1,500 people and flooded most of New Orleans, which has never fully recovered.
In sweltering midday heat, his shirt soaked through with sweat, Bush told a group of Biloxi residents that he knew the rebuilding was so slow that to some it felt as if nothing was happening.
Still, Bush said: “For a fellow who was here and now a year later comes back, things are changing. I feel the quiet sense of determination that’s going to shape the future of Mississippi.”
Source : http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/29/MNGFSKR16R1.DTL