http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N22250742.htmNew Orleanians heap most Katrina blame on US govt
NEW ORLEANS, Aug 23 (Reuters) - To hear Agnes Ferrell tell it, the only reason that U.S. President George W. Bush has mustered federal hurricane aid for New Orleans is that Mayor Ray Nagin would not leave him alone.
"The president wasn't doing anything until this man (Nagin) go up to him," she said recently while picking up some groceries at what appeared to be the only convenience store open in the Lower Ninth Ward.
A year after Hurricane Katrina swept through, killing more than 1,300 along the Gulf Coast, according to the National Hurricane Center, and flooding 80 percent of New Orleans, many in the city blame the federal government -- and its slow response to the disaster -- most of all for their woes.
But there is plenty of frustration to go around, and a Gallup/USA Today poll released this week shows that anger at Nagin's team is rising.
Some 29 percent of those surveyed said that local officials had done a poor job responding to the hurricane. Respondents were slightly more dissatisfied with the state and federal governments' performance.