Along Gulf, Aiding the Living and Counting the Dead

"A refugee is a prisoner of war or something," said Paulette Jolla, a New Orleans who left before the storm hit. Also in on the conversation was Terry Thompson, 42, of New Orleans, who said the president agreed to urge officials to start referring to those who escaped the storm as "displaced citizens."

"I don't know who came up with the term 'refugee' anyway," said Thompson. "He said if that term was making us feel like we were less, he didn't want to do that."

Thompson, who served in the National Guard in the Persian Gulf, said the military should have been called upon earlier to bring in helicopters to help evacuate residents and deliver food and water. "He's going over there to save the Iraqis and all that," Thompson said. "But he responded terribly to this tragedy."

Others were more charitable. "It's good that he came," said Iris Henderson, 38, who is at the shelter with her daughter and one grandchild. "People said he doesn't care but it seemed like he does. He showed that he's human. He's trying to do what he can."

Among those joining Bush on his visit to the shelter were the Rev. T.D. Jakes, who is one of the nation's best known African American religious leaders; Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D), first lady Laura Bush, Baton Rouge Mayor Melvin L. "Kip" Holden and Chertoff.

As Bush visited the region, some residents of Jefferson Parish were allowed to return briefly to their homes for the first time since they were forced to flee. A line of vehicles miles long began moving into the parish west of New Orleans at about 6 a.m.; officials planned to allow traffic in for 12 hours, though they encouraged residents to inspect their property, pick up personal items and leave.

Mississippi officials said the situation in the state was improving -- slowly. The availability of fuel continued to be "a significant problem" in some areas, said Gov. Haley Barbour (R), but, overall, he said, things were getting better.

Fletcher reported from Washington. Staff writers Robert E. Pierre in Baton Rouge, La., and Marc Kaufman, Spencer S. Hsu, Susan B. Glasser and Shankar Vedantam in Washington contributed to this report.