President Bush has returned to the U.S. Gulf coast on a follow-up visit to areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
Mr. Bush is now in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where the population has swelled dramatically with displaced people from flood-battered New Orleans and other stricken areas.
The president's second trip to the disaster zone in four days follows scathing criticism of federal officials' slow response, especially in New Orleans.
Governors, emergency officials and volunteers are rushing to feed, clothe and shelter more than half-a-million people evacuated from the Gulf Coast region. Texas Governor Rick Perry said he is seeking to airlift some of the evacuees to other states, as Texas is nearing its capacity. Texas is already sheltering more than 230,000 people.
President Bush's father, former President George Bush, and former President Bill Clinton announced the creation of a Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund Monday to channel money to the governors of Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana for hurricane relief.