US: The former head of the federal effort in the wake of Hurricane Katrina has blamed local officials in Louisiana and New Orleans for the chaos that left thousands stranded for days.
Michael Brown, who stepped down as head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) following criticism of his role after the storm, told a congressional inquiry that complaints about his performance were unfair.
"I guess you want me to be the super-hero who is suddenly going to step in and take everyone out of New Orleans," he said.
Mr Brown said his biggest regret was that he did not realise quickly enough that the state of Louisiana was dysfunctional and that the relationship between the state's governor, Kathleen Blanco, and New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin was so poor.
"I very strongly personally regret that I was unable to persuade Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin to sit down, get over their differences, and work together. I just couldn't pull that off," he said.
The members of the congressional panel, most of whom are Republicans, were unimpressed and Connecticut's Christopher Shays told Mr Brown he was not up to the job.
"I'm happy you left. That kind of look-in-the-lights-like-a-deer tells me you weren't capable of doing that job," he said.
The former Fema chief blamed the department of homeland security for underfunding his agency and claimed he had warned President Bush in advance that the hurricane would be a bad one.
Mr Brown, who was formerly head of the International Arabian Horse Association, admitted he should have called for military assistance at an earlier stage in the crisis but denied that he was unqualified to lead Fema.
"I've overseen over 150 presidentially declared disasters. I know what I'm doing, and I think I do a pretty darn good job of it," he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Bush visited the Gulf Coast yesterday for the seventh time since Hurricane Katrina struck, stopping in Beaumont, Texas, and Lake Charles, Louisiana, which were badly hit by Hurricane Rita last weekend.
He asked federal officials and other American citizens to cut back on unnecessary travel to make up for fuel shortages caused by Hurricane Rita.
"If it makes sense for the citizen out there to curtail non-essential travel, it darn sure makes sense for federal employees. We can encourage employees to car pool or use mass transit, and we can shift peak electricity use to off-peak hours. There's ways for the federal government to lead when it comes to conservation," Mr Bush said.
The president has told White House staff to save energy by turning down thermostats, shutting down computers, faxes and photocopy machines after hours, using public transport or carpools and reducing non-essential travel by relying more heavily on video conferencing.
Mr Bush said it was important people evacuated from Texas and Louisiana did not attempt to return to their homes too soon.
In New Orleans last night, it was announced that police chief Eddie Compass is to retire after a transitional period.
Hundreds of New Orleans police officers failed to report for duty during Hurricane Katrina and some are believed to have left their posts in the aftermath of the storm.