Bush to skip convention

2008-08-31 22:53

Washington - President George W Bush is skipping the Republican National Convention on Monday and will travel instead to Texas to meet with emergency workers and evacuees as Hurricane Gustav bears down on the Gulf Coast.

After a briefing on Sunday from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials, Bush urged residents to heed local officials' order to evacuate.

"Do not put yourselves in harm's way or make rescue workers take unnecessary risks," he said.

"And know that the American people stand with you. We'll face this emergency together."

Bush said he had been assured that New Orleans' levees are "stronger than they have ever been", but that there is a "serious risk of significant flooding" across the Gulf Coast - especially in that city.

"The message to the people of the Gulf Coast is this storm is dangerous," he said.

Meet with emergency workers

The White House had announced earlier on Sunday that Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney would skip the convention's opening day.

Bush said he would travel instead to Austin, Texas, and San Antonio to meet with emergency workers and evacuees and check on preparations.

He said that for now he would not go to New Orleans.

"I do not want my visit to impede in any way the response of our emergency personnel," Bush said.

"I hope to be able to get to Louisiana as soon as conditions permit."

Bush was strongly criticised after Katrina struck three years ago because he stuck to a schedule that took him from his ranch in Texas on a two-day trip to Arizona and California.

FEMA took days to get help to thousands of stranded New Orleans residents who were short of food and water as they waited to be evacuated from the inundated city.

More challenging than Katrina

On Sunday, Bush said state and federal emergency officials already were preparing for the worst and that meals, water, cots, blankets and doctors had been put in ready position.

The president spoke after his Homeland Security chief warned that Gustav could prove more challenging than Katrina and the nation's disaster response co-ordinator worried about New Orleans' fragile levees.

In a telephone call to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, Bush said he was "checking in and getting ready to go through this again with him", spokesperson Dana Perino said.

Nagin told Bush the forecast did not look good, but that he was pleased so far with the co-ordination with the federal government.

Nagin told Bush that residents were heeding the evacuation notice, roads were full and the elderly were getting the message to leave, Perino said.

Ahead of the storm, Bush pre-emptively declared states of emergency for Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama.

The declaration clears the way for federal aid to supplement state and local efforts and formalises co-ordination.

- AP