Bush surveys storm-hit Louisiana as evacuees trickle home

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2008

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) — President George W. Bush toured storm-scarred Louisiana Wednesday to survey damage from Hurricane Gustav, as hundreds of thousands who fled the storm began coming home.

The US leader, whose response to devastating Katrina in 2005 drew harsh criticism, came to the southeastern state a day after the storm battered fishing villages to the west of New Orleans and knocked out electricity across a wide area.

Bush, who arrived in Baton Rouge with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) chief Dave Paulison, has worked to show that he is on top of disaster response efforts after Gustav came ashore.

Only 10,000 people were estimated to have remained in New Orleans, a city of 300,000 people, when Gustav pushed into the Gulf coast...