Bush says recovery from Katrina will take years

With a vast federal relief effort grinding into operation, Bush also cautioned that the effects of the storm will be felt far beyond Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.\nHe said he had ordered steps to cushion the impact on the storm on the nation's oil industry. At the same time, he conceded: "This will help take some pressure off of gas price, but our citizens must understand this storm has disrupted the capacity to make gasoline and distribute gasoline."\nFlanked by senior members of his administration, Bush recited some of the actions already taken to help victims of the storm _ more than 50 disaster medical assistance teams and more than 25 urban search and rescue teams, both from the Federal Emergency Management Administration.\nHe said the Transportation Department has provided trucks to convey 5.4 million ready-to-eat meals, 13.4 million liters of water, 10,400 tarps, 3.4 million pounds of ice, 144 generators, 20 containers of prepositioned disaster supplies, 135,000 blankets and 11,000 cots.\n"And we're just starting," he added.\nHe said buses were on the way to help take thousands of storm survivors from the overwhelmed Superdome in New Orleans to the Astrodome in Houston.\nBush said the Pentagon, as well, was contributing to the rescue and relief operations, and the administration would make road and bridge repair a priority.\nBush also said he had instructed Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to work with refineries to "alleviate any shortage through loans."\nIn addition to the government's efforts, Bush encouraged private cash donations to recovery efforts.\nWhile Bush did not minimize the destruction left by the storm, he expressed optimism in words directed at the victims of the storm who have lost their homes, possessions and employment.\n"I'm confident that with time you'll get your life back in order, new communities will flourish, the great city of New Orleans will get back on its feet and America will be a stronger place for it," he said.\n"The country stands with you. We'll do all in our power to help you," he said.\nBush stepped to the microphones to put a personal imprint on efforts his administration is making to cope with the disaster in the Gulf Coast.\n"Truckloads of water, ice, meals, medical supplies, generators, tents and tarpaulins" are loaded aboard 1,700 trailer trucks in an initial emergency response, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said earlier at a news conference.\nHe pledged a "full range of federal resources" _ a list that ran from bridge inspection and repair to restoration of communications networks to mosquito abatement in a region with vast stretches underwater.\nAt the same time, officials warned of continuing hardships across an area laid waste by the powerful storm.\nMichael Leavitt, secretary of Health and Human Services, announced that he had declared a public health emergency in the area stretching from Louisiana to Florida. "We are gravely concerned about the potential for cholera, typhoid and dehydrating diseases that could come as a result of the stagnant water and the conditions," he said.\nChertoff and Leavitt spoke at a news conference attended by an unusual array of department and agency heads, each of whom came equipped with a list of actions already taken by the administration.\nIn addition to steps designed to alleviate the suffering of victims, the administration moved to cushion the impact the storm might have on the nation's oil supply.\nBush signed off on a plan to release oil from emergency stockpiles, a decision intended to offset the loss of production from Gulf Coast refiners.\nAt the same time, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson announced a temporary nationwide waiver of certain pollution standards covering gasoline and diesel fuels.\nJohnson had issued the waiver for the four storm-damaged Gulf states on Tuesday but said the broader move was necessary "to ensure that fuel is available throughout the country, to address public health issues and emergency vehicle supply needs."\nAdditionally, Bodman said the Transportation Department had waived rules governing trucker hours, a step he said would increase the supply of gasoline.\nOverall, "the first stage is, of course, life saving," said Chertoff, who emerged as the administration's point man on the disaster response.\nEfforts are under way to clear roads and inspect bridges, establish communications and expand operations at airports, he added.\n"We are also looking at maritime assets that we can deploy to New Orleans to re-establish port operations there," he said.\nLonger term, Chertoff said, will be the rebuilding efforts.