Us > Bush: Katrina response unacceptable

"Where it's not working right, we're going to make it right," Bush said as he spoke with officials about the recovery effort then took a helicopter tour of the Alabama-Mississippi coast.

"We are going to restore order in the city of New Orleans," he said.

Bush was blunt in his appraisal of what had been done in the four days since the storm struck on Monday, saying in Washington before he left, "The results are not acceptable."

Later, he walked down a storm-damaged street in downtown Biloxi, Mississippi, and comforted a sobbing woman who told him, "I don't have anything."

The woman, Bronwynne Bassier, 23, and her sister Kim, 21, managed to escape the storm but her house was in ruins. She clutched a black plastic bag she hoped to use to collect some items from what was left of her home.

"Sorry you're going through this," Bush said, hugging both women.

Bush toured the stricken region as criticism mounted of his administration's response to likely the nation's worst natural disaster, including the adequacy of its funding for New Orleans' levees and its readiness for the emergency.

Concerns were also growing over the U.S. economy as gasoline prices surge above $3 a gallon. On Capitol Hill, a fellow Republican, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist asked for hearings on the federal response to the hurricane once immediate needs were met.

"The levees broke on Tuesday in New Orleans. On Wednesday and Thursday, we started evacuating people ... I am satisfied with the response. I am not satisfied with all the results," Bush told reporters in Biloxi.

Anarchy and looting have broken out in flooded New Orleans, tens of thousands across the area remain stranded and without adequate food and water, and local officials are warning of a death toll that could number in the thousands. Only half of the 30,000 National Guard and military troops so far dispatched are in place.

Katrina's aftermath presents Bush with his greatest emergency since the September 11, 2001, attacks. He has already been struggling with the lowest approval ratings of his presidency amid rising discontent with the Iraq war.

Bush rejected criticism that his administration had devoted too many resources to Iraq and not enough to domestic preparedness.

"I just completely disagree," he said.

Bush cut his vacation short by two days to return to Washington Wednesday to oversee the recovery. His request for a quick $10.5 billion in aid was approved by the Congress and Bush said he would sign it on Friday night.

"We'll get on top of this situation and we're going to help people who need help," he insisted.

In Biloxi, Bush also met 35-year-old Kevin Miller, who clung to a tree for three hours until the storm receded, holding onto a woman and a dog with his arms until he became too exhausted and let them go.

"I spent a long time in that tree," he said.

2005-09-03