Bush consoles Katrina victims

NEW ORLEANS — President Bush yesterday acknowledged that the federal government’s response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina was “not enough,” as he personally delivered a help-is-on-the-way message to Gulf Coast residents stranded for nearly a week without food or water.

“This is a storm that requires immediate action, now,” said the president, who spent the day touring hard-hit communities in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. “I understand the devastation requires more than one day’s attention. It’s going to require the attention of this country for a long period of time.”

As he did after the terrorist attacks of September 11, Mr. Bush took on the role of comforter in chief. He walked along streets where houses had been reduced to piles of rubble, consoling residents who lost everything with hugs and words of support.

In Biloxi, Miss., Mr. Bush kissed two weeping women on the head after one told him, “I don’t have anything.”

“Sorry you’re going through this,” the president told Bronwynne Bassier, 23, who was clutching several trash bags with which she hoped to recover belongings from her destroyed home. Mr. Bush walked for a while with his arms around her and her sister, Kim, 21, telling them, “Hang in there.”

Before departing on his tour, the president said on the White House front lawn that early results from his administration’s emergency response to the hurricane were “not acceptable.”

“I want to assure the people of the affected areas and this country that we’ll deploy the assets necessary to get the situation under control, to get the help to the people who have been affected,” Mr. Bush said.

After viewing destruction and listening to a briefing on storm damage during his first stop in Mobile, Ala., the president — who appeared on the verge of tears — reiterated his resolve to step up his administration’s response.

“My attitude is, if it’s not going exactly right, we’re going to make it go exactly right. If there’s problems, then we’ll address the problems,” Mr. Bush said.

The president then flew by helicopter to Biloxi, where he witnessed firsthand entire waterfront neighborhoods that had been flattened.

At several points, Mr. Bush’s motorcade had to zig-zag down narrow streets to avoid toppled trees and debris. The president climbed out of his limousine in an area where entire houses had been ripped off their foundations and strewn across the neighborhood. The landscape was heaped with chunks of broken trees, twisted sheets of corrugated aluminum, cinder blocks and heating ducts.

Meanwhile, frustration at the administration’s response to the hurricane boiled over from members of both parties.

“If we think that this was a good example of leadership, we have indeed lowered our standards as a nation,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat. She said she agreed with Mr. Bush that the results weren’t satisfactory.

While saying it was not the time for finger-pointing, Republicans agreed that the federal effort had fallen short of what was needed and promised to call congressional hearings to find out what went wrong.

“We are learning some lessons, I think, from this. We have more lessons to learn, I’m afraid,” said Rep. Jim McCrery, Louisiana Republican, whose district was not affected by the hurricane but has taken in hundreds of refugees.

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