George W Bush visits New Orleans as locals reflect on Katrina

FORMER US president George W Bush returned yesterday to New Orleans – the scene of one of his presidency’s lowest points – to praise the region’s recovery from America’s costliest natural disaster on the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
The lower ninth ward of New Orleans in 2005, left, and in July this year, right. Picture: APThe lower ninth ward of New Orleans in 2005, left, and in July this year, right. Picture: AP
The lower ninth ward of New Orleans in 2005, left, and in July this year, right. Picture: AP

He was with students at Warren Easton Charter High School, the same school he visited on the first anniversary of the catastrophic storm. He was accompanied by his wife, Laura, whose library foundation helped rebuild what is the oldest public school in New Orleans.

The two met students at the school’s gymnasium, where he was also greeted by New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu and former Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco, who was in office during Katrina. His wife, Laura, wore a purple dress in honour of the school’s colours.

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The school’s success is one of the president’s brighter moments in what was an extremely trying time for the Bush administration. Mr Bush was vilified for his government’s lacklustre response.

George W Bush: New Orleans visit. Picture: Getty ImagesGeorge W Bush: New Orleans visit. Picture: Getty Images
George W Bush: New Orleans visit. Picture: Getty Images

A series of faux pas marred his personal record - from flying over flooded New Orleans first on Air Force One to his “Heckuva job, Brownie” quip in support of the soon-to-be-dismissed director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Michael Brown.

Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice University and author of “The Great Deluge,” a detailed account of the first days after Katrina, said the catastrophic hurricane became a “confluence of blunders” from which Bush would never recover. His approval ratings fell after the storm and never returned to pre-storm levels, he said. “That’s when I think his presidency started on a downward trend.”

In New Orleans, Mr Bush and his team were pilloried by Louisianans and became a source of deep resentment and mockery - displayed in effigies at carnival displays for years after Katrina.

At Warren Easton, at least, Bush could point to a success story.

“We have fond memories of his last visit,” said Arthur Hardy, a celebrity in New Orleans for his expertise in all things Mardi Gras and Carnival, the city’s signature festivity. Mr Hardy graduated from the high school in 1965.

He said Mr Bush helped the school come back and reopen after Katrina. After New Orleans, the Bush family will visit Gulfport, Mississippi, to attend an event with state officials, including Governor Phil Bryant and former Governor Haley Barbour. Mr Barbour was governor when Katrina hit and served as a staunch Bush ally.

The event in Mississippi will serve to thank emergency workers who helped after the 
hurricane.

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The Gulf Coast and New Orleans are places that Bush is deeply tied to – both as an eastern Texan familiar with the Gulf and as the president who inherited the Katrina disaster.

The bulk of the rebuilding fell to the Bush administration, which spent more than $140 billion on the disaster.