Displaced residents express hope, skepticism

HOUSTON -- Residents of New Orleans displaced to this Texas city reacted with hope and skepticism to President Bush's speech last night.

About a dozen evacuees staying in a downtown hotel gathered around three large televisions in the lobby as Bush spoke about plans to rebuild their hometown. They nodded their heads in agreement when Bush promised to study disaster plans in order to prevent another chaotic emergency response, but they gave blank stares when he acknowledged the emergency response could have been coordinated better.

''He is saying nothing we do not know," said Joyce Polite, a retired nurse. ''Tell us something new."

Bush said he wants to get thousands of people forced from their homes removed from shelters by mid- October and relocated into apartments and new residences, with assistance from the government. He promised to work with Congress to make sure states were paid back for the millions they have spent tending to the needs of evacuees.

Polite and other evacuees listening to the speech said they believe Bush does intend to rebuild New Orleans, but they said they wanted to hear less about what he planned to do for the local and state governments and more about what he planned to do for regular people like Polite, who lost everything after Hurricane Katrina struck.

Polite, 63, and her sister Lillian Cooper, 62, were impressed with Bush's plans to allow some families to be relocated to mobile homes while their houses were being rebuilt.

''I'd like that," said Polite. ''I don't want to be here while they are rebuilding my home."

Cooper agreed, but both women said they were disappointed Bush did not address uncertainties about whether damage to their homes will be covered by their insurance policies. Unless homeowners had flood insurance, many insurers have indicated they will not pay claims unless they were clearly caused by high winds.

''I think what he said is good," said Cooper, a nurse who was working at a local hospital when the storm struck. She was airlifted to the airport and flown to the Astrodome in Houston, where she met family members. ''But will he follow through? Will we be able to take it to the bank? That is the big question."

Bush said federal dollars would pay for most of the cost of rebuilding, schools, roads, the water system, and bridges, but he did not specify a dollar amount the government would provide for recovery from the most expensive disaster in the nation's history.

''Throughout the area hit by the hurricane, we will do what it takes. We will stay as long as it takes to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives," Bush said in the prime-time speech from the French Quarter in New Orleans.

Robert Speers, 52, did not take his eyes off the television set, and said he believed Bush was sincere. But Speers, a doctor, said that Bush spent too much time focusing on how he will help the government and not enough about how he would help individuals.

''I think he made a real commitment to rebuild New Orleans. Now that said, the people who really need help, who lost homes, and the poor blacks -- they won't be the ones that get the help," he said.

Responding to criticism that the slow emergency response occurred because most victims were poor and black, Bush said: ''That poverty has roots in a history of racial discrimination, which cut off generations from the opportunity of America. We have a duty to confront this poverty with bold action."

The president promised the establishment of worker recovery accounts providing up to $5,000 for job training, education, and child care during the search for employment.

Keena Johnson, 33, said she wanted to believe Bush would follow through, but said she was uncertain.

''I really hope he sticks to what he says. I believe he is just reacting to the reaction from people, who said the slow response was racial," she said. ''So he might do what he says, but just to save face."

Material from the Associated Press was used for this report.