Katrina still bitter wind for Bush

GULFPORT, Mississippi - One year after Hurricane Katrina battered the United States Gulf Coast and his political standing, President George W. Bush admits a complete recovery is still a long way off.

"There is hope down here, but there is still a lot of work to be done," Bush said. "This is an anniversary but it doesn't mean it's an end.

"Frankly it's just the beginning of what is going to be a long recovery."

The anniversary of Katrina, which killed about 1500 people and devastated New Orleans, holds perils for Bush as it rekindles memories of Government mistakes in the initial response to one of the worst US natural disasters.

As the November mid-term election approaches, Bush's approval ratings are near 40 per cent, having never fully recovered from the damage they suffered in Katrina's aftermath.

Listing progress on the Gulf Coast, Bush said Mississippi beaches, once littered with debris, were now "pristine" and school districts across the area had reopened, though many had to hold classes in trailers.

Stopping at a shipbuilding company where employees wiped grey boats with cloths, Bush told reporters that the company, United States Marine, was hiring and noted there was a worker shortage, but housing also was scarce.

Pressed for a timeframe for the rebuilding, Bush said: "It's hard for me to say. I would say years, not months."

Bush flew later to New Orleans, where his motorcade passed neighbourhoods with some newly built homes and others with tattered roofs.

He rode past the Convention Centre, where many victims fled only to become stranded in stifling heat.

A sign on the Superdome said, "Reopening 9-25-2006, Go Saints," and a sign on a pole said, "We tear down houses", with a phone number on it.

Bush was to dine with New Orleans officials, including Mayor Ray Nagin, who said he wanted to see a faster flow of resources.

The horrors experienced at the Superdome and elsewhere in New Orleans stoked concern about racial and economic divisions because blacks and the poor bore the brunt of the suffering.

Asked if he believed race was a factor in the slow federal response to Katrina, Nagin said: "If it would have been a bunch of rich people in New Orleans, I think there would have been a different response. I really do."

Bush rejected the idea that race influenced the response.

"Whoever says that is trying to politicise a very difficult situation," he told American Urban Radio Network. But he acknowledged the hurricane had exposed a racial divide and said he hoped the rebuilding could heal it.

Democrats, vying to win control of at least one chamber of Congress in the mid-term election, are intent on reminding voters of flaws in the Bush Administration's relief effort and of dissatisfaction that continues in the region.

House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, of California, said the storm exposed a "tragedy" of mismanagement and the Government was not fulfilling its pledges.

"Hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens still await the help in rebuilding their hospitals, schools, businesses and homes that was promised last fall," Pelosi said.

In Mississippi, Bush said a "large cheque" in the form of US$110 billion ($172 billion) in federal funds dedicated to the Gulf Coast was proof of the Government's commitment. Mississippi Senator Trent Lott said there was progress in the rebuilding but frustrations remained with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the flood insurance programme.

- REUTERS