2008 Woodie Awards
On Katrina anniversary, Bush returns to Gulf Coast
William Douglas and Steven Thomma McClatchy Newspapers
Issue date: 8/30/06 Section: News
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GULFPORT, Miss. - President Bush saluted the resilience of Hurricane Katrina survivors here Monday and promised that their plight hadn't been forgotten a year after the storm cut a swath of death and destruction along the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts.
"Even though we've been through about one year together, one year doesn't mean that we'll forget," Bush told community leaders at a luncheon in Biloxi, Miss. "As a matter of fact, now is the time to renew our commitment to let people down here know that we will stay involved and help the people of Mississippi rebuild their lives."
Bush's stops in Mississippi and New Orleans were part of a two-day trip to mark the first anniversary of a hurricane that killed 1,695 people, displaced 770,000 others and caused at least $96 billion in damage when it hit land on Aug. 29, 2005.
Bush is using the anniversary to reassure gulf residents and Americans that his administration is on top of the recovery effort after doing an admittedly poor job in the initial days following the hurricane.
Before leaving Washington, he was briefed by Homeland Security officials on Tropical Storm Ernesto, which has cut through the Caribbean, put Florida on alert and caused some jitters in this region.
Last week, the White House put out a four-page document detailing what the administration has done for Gulf Coast residents in the past year.
It said that Bush's stewardship helped secure $110 billion in federal funds for recovery efforts, for repairs to New Orleans' damaged levee system in time for the 2007 hurricane season and for removing tons of post-Katrina debris from the gulf.
But several experts say that even those recovery efforts have been problematic. Of the $110 billion, only $77 billion has been released and only $44 billion has been spent.
Funds from a $17 billion program to rebuild about 204,000 homes in Louisiana and Mississippi are just now starting to flow into the region. Federal emergency officials have expressed confidence that New Orleans' levees are ready for a major hurricane, though the head of the Army Corps of Engineers, which repaired the system, said it's not clear whether the levees can withstand a big hurricane.
"Even though we've been through about one year together, one year doesn't mean that we'll forget," Bush told community leaders at a luncheon in Biloxi, Miss. "As a matter of fact, now is the time to renew our commitment to let people down here know that we will stay involved and help the people of Mississippi rebuild their lives."
Bush's stops in Mississippi and New Orleans were part of a two-day trip to mark the first anniversary of a hurricane that killed 1,695 people, displaced 770,000 others and caused at least $96 billion in damage when it hit land on Aug. 29, 2005.
Bush is using the anniversary to reassure gulf residents and Americans that his administration is on top of the recovery effort after doing an admittedly poor job in the initial days following the hurricane.
Before leaving Washington, he was briefed by Homeland Security officials on Tropical Storm Ernesto, which has cut through the Caribbean, put Florida on alert and caused some jitters in this region.
Last week, the White House put out a four-page document detailing what the administration has done for Gulf Coast residents in the past year.
It said that Bush's stewardship helped secure $110 billion in federal funds for recovery efforts, for repairs to New Orleans' damaged levee system in time for the 2007 hurricane season and for removing tons of post-Katrina debris from the gulf.
But several experts say that even those recovery efforts have been problematic. Of the $110 billion, only $77 billion has been released and only $44 billion has been spent.
Funds from a $17 billion program to rebuild about 204,000 homes in Louisiana and Mississippi are just now starting to flow into the region. Federal emergency officials have expressed confidence that New Orleans' levees are ready for a major hurricane, though the head of the Army Corps of Engineers, which repaired the system, said it's not clear whether the levees can withstand a big hurricane.
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