More than four years after Hurricane Katrina devastated a huge swath of the U.S. Gulf Coast, President Obama on Thursday admitted there's still a lot of work to do before the recovery effort can be declared a success.
"We will keep on working. We will not forget about the Gulf Coast," he told an enthusiastic crowd gathered for a town hall meeting at the University of New Orleans.
During his first visit to New Orleans since becoming president, Obama said repairs are yet to be made on many roads, sewers, hospitals, homes and schools throughout the city and the region. But he promised his administration will not forget about the region and announced a new working group that will coordinate restoration, preparedness and response efforts.
"I know since a lot of these problems have been going on since Katrina, people understandably feel impatient," Obama said. "On the other hand, a lot of these things are not going to be fixed tomorrow."
Hurricane Katrina killed about 1,600 people in Louisiana and Mississippi. Damage from the storm has been estimated at about $40 billion. Four years after the storm, many areas are still scarred by vacant homes and boarded-up businesses. Many people are still living in temporary housing, and buildings are still awaiting demolition.
In New Orleans alone, some 60,000 properties are still abandoned or in need of major repairs. The Army Corps of Engineers is only one-third of the way through a $15 billion project to strengthen the levees.
The president began his visit to the Crescent City at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School for Science and Technology — the only school to reopen in the city's Lower Ninth Ward since floodwaters ravaged the neighborhood.
In brief remarks, Obama asked the kids to "pinkie promise" that they would work hard in school every day. "I want all of you to know that the most important thing you can do for yourselves and for your community and for your country is to work hard in school — and to treat each other with respect and treat yourself with respect," the president said.
The president was only scheduled to be in the city for 3 hours and 45 minutes before flying to San Francisco for a Democratic National Committee fundraising dinner later this evening. The brief trip drew criticism from some residents, who complained that he wasn't paying enough attention to the area's problems.
Two Republicans criticized the president for not touring the battered wetlands, and a Mississippi official said he was disappointed Obama was skipping the state entirely.
But White House spokesman Bill Burton said Obama has been closely monitoring recovery efforts and is committed to rebuilding New Orleans. According to a White House spokesman, senior administration officials and Cabinet members have made dozens of trips to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast this year.
Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Democrat, said members of the Cabinet and other senior advisers will remain in the area for a longer visit.
"Although I'm disappointed, as many are, that the trip won't be longer, I'm encouraged that he's coming with members of his Cabinet to visit very significant sites in the area," Landrieu said in a YouTube post.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and White House environmental adviser Nancy Sutley joined the president. Each was scheduled to attend different events in the city.
Obama visited New Orleans four times after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast when he was in the Senate. He also visited in 2008 when he was in the midst of his presidential campaign.
The White House had scheduled the town hall so Obama could field residents' concerns. However, of the half-dozen questions he took, only two were directly related to the storm. Others touched on Social Security, health care, climate, education and even, from a fourth-grade boy, the president's approval ratings. "Why does everyone hate you?" the boy asked.
While Obama was frequently cheered inside the event, roughly 150 demonstrators protested outside, some criticizing his health care plan.
"I'm a small-business owner, and the things he has proposed are going to collapse my business," said Tom Clement, 63, who runs a small landscaping business in Baton Rouge.
With material from NPR staff, The Associated Press and member station WWNO in New Orleans
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