President to Get Update on Recovery

It's been six months since the president last visited the region, and he didn't even mention Katrina rebuilding efforts in his State of the Union speech in January.

But White House Press Secretary Tony Snow bristles at suggestions Bush has put the issue on the back burner, noting the president has pushed a 110 (b) billion-dollar recovery effort. However, Snow says the president is frustrated by the continued slow pace of recovery from the August 2005 storm.

The president will meet with state and local officials in Biloxi, Mississippi, and visit a charter school in New Orleans.

When President George W. Bush visits New Orleans - a year-and-a-half after Hurricane Katrina - what he will find is a city of extremes, where life abounds in isolated areas and is eerily lacking in others.

"It's important to have better progress, and we certainly want to make sure that everybody works together to get the situation cleaned up as soon as possible," White House press secretary Tony Snow said in Washington on Wednesday in advance of Bush's visit.

Spurred by the determination of residents, the city has made some progress since Katrina struck on Aug. 29, 2005, but recovery has been slow and parts of the New Orleans still lie in ruins.

Health care is limited. Violent crime has surged, along with rental costs. Many public schools have re-opened, but some are still struggling to hire enough teachers.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said people are losing patience and that he plans to press Bush to speed the flow of federal aid to his cash-strapped city.

The Democrat-led Congress has held hearings, introduced legislation to cancel storm-related bureaucracy and pressed the Bush administration to do more.

Meanwhile, a blueprint for rebuilding is still making its way through the local government.

Last week, two residents got the keys to what are believed to be the first houses built in the impoverished and hard-hit Lower 9th Ward since Katrina. But there, and in other areas, houses have yet to be gutted or are otherwise empty. Many small businesses, including retail and specialty shops in the French Quarter, are struggling.

"Frankly, the government is a problem," said Hal Roark, executive director of the Broadmoor Development Corp., created to help rebuild a neighborhood once eyed by planners as post-Katrina green space. "It is a resource to be tolerated, not an asset to be celebrated. You can quote that."

City council member Shelley Midura said, "We need the federal government to do its part. We need to see the beginning of an avalanche of help."

"This should be a no-brainer. ... The levees breaking was their fault," she added, speaking of the federally designed and built flood control structures that failed during Katrina.

But even if the federal government provided more money, it likely would not be enough to create the kinds of neighborhoods many residents envision, said Bari Landry, president of the Lakeview Civic Improvement Association.

The cost of the city's rebuilding proposal, which excludes many neighborhood wish-list items, is $14 billion.

Among the city's requests: the forgiveness of $240 million in disaster loans that it is relying on to operate.

The federal government has dedicated about $110 billion to the Gulf Coast since the 2005 hurricanes, and Bush remains committed to the region, said Donald Powell, the federal coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding. He said his office will work with state and local officials if and when the need for more funding arises.

But not everyone is waiting on government.

In the hard-hit neighborhoods of Broadmoor and Lakeview, houses are being rebuilt, business is slowly returning and residents are leading redevelopment.

In Lakeview, volunteer groups have helped repair playgrounds and are sprucing up common areas. There are plans to plant hundreds of trees and shrubs and clear debris with the help of West Point military academy cadets later this month.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)