Bush to mark Katrina anniversary
Will view region's recovery efforts
CRAWFORD, Texas -- President Bush will return to the Gulf Coast next week, where hard times and resentment linger two years after Hurricane Katrina's massive strike.
Bush will fly into New Orleans on Tuesday after giving a speech about the Iraq war to the American Legion convention in Reno.
On Wednesday, the anniversary of the storm, he is expected to examine recovery efforts in New Orleans and along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
The monster hurricane was the most destructive natural disaster in US history.
The storm swamped a beloved city, killed 1,800 people across the Gulf Coast, destroyed or severely damaged more than 200,000 homes, and left some 800,000 people homeless overnight.
In New Orleans, despite progress, signs of a shattered city abound today. Neighborhoods are in ruins. Crime, inadequate healthcare, and faulty infrastructure are pervasive.
The Bush administration is still dogged by allegations of an inadequate response -- first, for the way it handled the crisis, and more recently, for how much time the White House has spent on it.
Bush's trip will be his 15th stop in the region since the hurricane, but only his second since he visited during the one-year anniversary in August 2006.
The White House said criticisms of its efforts are wrong. The federal government has provided more than $114 billion in aid, $96 billion of which has been spent or is available for states to draw from, said Bush spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
"The president continues to follow through on his commitment to help local citizens rebuild their lives and communities on the Gulf Coast," Johndroe said. "This was a catastrophic natural disaster that we all know is going to take some time for the Gulf Coast to recover."
Bush himself emphasized to Gulf Coast residents that the government has not forgotten them when he last toured the area.
The president's wife, Laura, will accompany him Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Bush is nearing the end of a vacation at his ranch in central Texas, where's he been biking and clearing brush in the searing heat. He arrived in Crawford on Wednesday afternoon and has no public events scheduled through tomorrow. 