Washington D C: The hurricane Gustav has ripped across New Orleans and put in peril the key oil installations that fall in its path.
But the US president George W Bush, on Monday, gave out a message to the hurricane-struck Americans.
He said that there is a real possibility of flooding and storm surge, but the Americans will face this emergency together.
"The message to the people of the Gulf Coast is, this storm is dangerous. There's a real possibility of flooding, storm surge and high winds. Therefore, it is very important for you to follow the instructions and direction of state and local officials. Do not put yourself in harm's way, or make rescue workers take unnecessary risks. And know that the American people stand with you. We'll face this emergency together," he said.
The American president added that the coordination among states and the federal government in response to Hurricane Gustav has been better than during Katrina, which devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005 and tattered his administration's reputation for handling crises.
At an emergency operations center in Austin, Texas, Bush said the federal government's job is to assist states affected by the storm.
He said he wants to ensure that assets are in place to handle the storm, and preparations are being made to help the Gulf Coast recover.
''To that end, I feel good,'' Bush said. ''The coordination on this storm is a lot better than during Katrina.''
He lauded Gulf Coast residents who heeded warnings to evacuate, saying he knows it's hard for citizens to ''pull up stakes.''
''This storm has yet to pass,'' Bush said. ''It's a serious event.''
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Bush had planned to address the Republican National Convention, but he headed instead to Austin, about 400 miles (640 kilometers) west of where the storm struck the Louisiana coast.
He received an hour-long briefing aboard Air Force One and planned to learn more about the storm at a command center in San Antonio.
David Paulison, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told reporters on the plane that there has been ''unprecedented cooperation'' among federal agencies and the private sector.
''What it allows us to do is share information of what's going on so we don't end up with what happened in Katrina, with different agencies doing things and others not knowing what's happening,'' he said.
Paulison said the help came ahead of the storm time, significantly easing evacuations.
Everyone in New Orleans who wanted to evacuate could have, Paulison said.
''There should not be any excuses,'' he said. ''If people stayed in New Orleans, it was their choice,'' he added.
The enduring memory of Katrina is not the ferocity of the storm, but the bungled reaction that led to preventable deaths and chaos.
Disaster response has undoubtedly improved since then.
But Katrina, which killed nearly 1,600 in 2005, was a low chapter in American history, and it deeply eroded credibility in Bush's administration.
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Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Texas Republican, greeted Bush as he got off the plane in shirtsleeves on a hot, sunny day in Texas.
By flying to Texas, Bush clearly wanted to show the nation, and particularly people of the Gulf Coast, that he is committed to answering their needs.
He said he hopes to get to Louisiana, too, but will choose a time that does not interfere with emergency response efforts.
Gustav was downgraded to a Category 2 storm by mid-Monday morning.
Katrina was a Category 3 storm when it hit the Gulf Coast three years ago, obliterating 90,000 square miles (233,100 sq. kilometers) of property and costing billions of dollars in response and repairs.
First lady Laura Bush also was involved in the administration's effort to stress that things would be different this time. ''Mistakes were made by everyone'' at all levels of government in the handling of Katrina, Mrs. Bush said Monday on CNN.
''Part of it was not being able to have the good communication that you would need between the three governments,'' said Mrs. Bush, who also was to speak Monday at the Republican convention.
''And we have taken care of that, we know that's a lot better. And the lessons that were learned from Katrina can serve the United States very well in any kind of disaster,' she added.'
Levees in and around New Orleans were expected to hold this time, but the storm's surge could overtop levees and at least partially flood the city, said Federal Emergency Management Agency Deputy Director Harvey E. Johnson.
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Damage from Gustav ''will be a catastrophe by the time you add it all up,'' Johnson said in an interview with The Associated Press a few hours before landfall. ''But we're certainly not expecting it to be as much as a Katrina.''
''We don't expect the loss of life, certainly, that we saw in Katrina,'' he said. ''But we are expecting a lot of homes to be damaged, a lot of infrastructure to be flooded, and damaged severely.''
In appearances on morning network news shows, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said planning, preparation and early evacuations, especially of people in need, were successful.
Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt declared a public health emergency to ensure that people enrolled in state health care and insurance programmes in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama continue to receive their health care items and services even after they leave their homes.
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