Barbara Bush 'meant well'
2005-09-08 20:22
Washington - US President George W Bush is not the only member of his prominent political family to be drawing criticism for public utterances about Hurricane Katrina, his mother has raised eyebrows too.
In widely reported comments after visiting evacuees at a Texas sports arena, former first lady Barbara Bush on Monday seemed to suggest a silver lining for the "underprivileged" forced from their flooded homes in New Orleans.
She said: "What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality.
"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway - so this is working very well for them."
Texas 'offering great help'
White House spokesperson Scott McClellan said: "I think that the observation is based on someone or some people who were talking to her and in need of a lot of assistance, people who have gone through a lot of trauma and been through a very difficult and trying time.
"And all of a sudden, they are now getting great help in Texas from some of the shelters."
Her son had faced criticism for saying that, on September 1, no one anticipated that New Orleans' levees would break - even though various federal and state agencies had warned of that scenario.
In his first tour of the devastated region, Bush also praised federal emergency management agency (FEMA) chief Michael Brown, saying: "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."
Sluggish response to Katrina
Brown had become a lightning rod for criticism of Washington's sluggish response to Katrina, one of the worst natural disasters to hit the US, and opposition democrats had stepped up calls for Bush to fire him.
Bush had also came under fire for paying tribute to ravaged New Orleans as a place he used to visit years ago "to enjoy myself - occasionally too much", an apparent reference to the days before he quit drinking.
In an effort to raise the spirits of the hundreds of thousands who had lost their homes, Bush promised to rebuild devastated areas better than they were before, but at one point focused on the home of a powerful parliamentarian.
9/11 attacks aftermath
He said: "Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house - he's lost his entire house - there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch."
There had also been echoes of the aftermath of the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks, after Bush urged Americans to go shopping and live their lives as normally as possible.
In some of her first remarks after the hurricane, First Lady Laura Bush told Gulf Coast evacuees: "It's very important to get your children in school. It gives children a sense of normalcy."
The White House later put together a plan to help students and school districts affected by the hurricane.