Reply #3: "the challenge is to help restore the soul," [View All]

[rodeodance]

......."The challenge is not only to help rebuild, but the challenge is to help restore the soul," Bush said in a speech heavily laced with religious references. "Sunday has not yet come to New Orleans, but you can see it ahead."

When Katrina roared ashore east of New Orleans last Aug. 29, it left 80 percent of New Orleans underwater, killed 1,800 people across the Gulf Coast, destroyed or severely damaged more than 204,000 homes and made more than 800,000 people homeless overnight.

A year later, New Orleans and other hard-hit parts of southeastern Louisiana haven't even emerged entirely from the cleanup phase. With insurance settlements in dispute, no master rebuilding plan from the city, and federal grants only beginning to flow to residents, significant reconstruction efforts seem a distant hope for most. Less than half of New Orleans' population has returned.

"I know you love New Orleans," Bush said to residents scattered across the nation. "And New Orleans needs you. She needs people coming home. She needs people — she needs those saints to come marching back. That's what she needs. New Orleans is calling her children home."