From USA Today, via the White House "Communications Update":
BILOXI, Miss. — A year ago, President Bush visited this area ravaged by Hurricane Katrina and saw piles of rubble strewn over beaches and neighborhoods. He met with people who lost everything.On a return visit Monday, he said 98% of the debris is gone, the beaches are pristine, and the Biloxi-Gulfport area is slowly rebuilding. He praised the region's rebirth and the resolve of its residents to restore their lives.
“It's a sense of renewal here. It may be hard for those of you who have endured the last year to really have that sense of change, but for a fellow who was here and now a year later comes back, things are changing,” Bush said in the first part of a two-day swing to mark today's anniversary of Katrina.
“There's still challenges. There's still more to be done,” Bush said, noting that it will take “years, not months” for a full recovery.
Was it only a year ago? When Katrina came a'visiting, and exposed just how badly government agencies at all levels could screw things up, and how well others could perform under pressure? How badly the media could cover something? Well, until we saw how well they did for Lebanon...
Regardless, for some of us, it's still yesterday.
I just picked up a copy of The Great Deluge, Douglas Brinkley's well-reviewed and supposed-to-be-evenhanded book on Katrina and the aftermath. I hope so - it will be nice to see it laid out in an organized fashion, vice the chaos that it actually was. Might gain some perspective.
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