Hurricane Gustav crashed into a mainly-deserted US Gulf coast and delivered only a glancing blow to New Orleans as it weakened and headed inland today.

Hurricane Rita poured more water into New Orleans for a second day today and inundated fishing villages along Louisiana’s coast, where dozens of people were rescued from homes swamped by up to 6 feet of water.

US President George Bush, facing blistering criticism for his administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina, said today “the results are not acceptable” and pledged to bolster relief efforts with a personal trip to the Gulf Coast.

US President George Bush hopes his tour of Gulf Coast communities battered by Hurricane Katrina will boost the spirits of increasingly desperate storm victims and their tired rescuers.