President Bush Says Recovery From Katrina Will Take Years

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Bush said Wednesday that his administration was moving quickly to save lives and provide sustenance to uncounted victims of Hurricane Katrina but that recovery “will take years” from the storm that laid waste to the Gulf Coast.

“We’re dealing with one of the worst national disasters in our nation’s history,” he said at the news conference hours after an aerial tour of the area. “This is going to be a difficult road,” he added, and made it clear the impact could broaden well past the four states along the battered coast.

“Our citizens must understand this storm has disrupted the capacity to make gasoline and to distribute gasoline,” the president said. Flanked by senior members of his administration, Bush ran down a list of actions already taken to help victims of the storm.

He said, for example, buses were on the way to help take thousands of storm survivors from the overwhelmed Superdome in New Orleans to the Astrodome in Houston. Medical teams have been deployed, as have urban search and rescue teams, the president said.

The Coast Guard has rescued nearly 2,000 people, he added. Bush said the Pentagon, as well, was contributing to the rescue and relief operations, and said he had instructed Energy Secretary Sam Bodman to work with refineries to “alleviate any shortage through loans.”

In addition to the government’s efforts, Bush encouraged private cash donations to recovery efforts. While Bush did not minimize the destruction left by the storm, he expressed optimism in words directed at the victims of the storm who have lost their homes, possessions and employment.

“I’m confident that with time you’ll get your life back in order, new communities will flourish, the great city of New Orleans will get back on its feet and America will be a stronger place for it,” he said.

By DAVID ESPO AP Special Correspondent

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

AP-NY-08-31-05 1729EDT