Concerned about Hurricane Rita’s damage to coastal oil refineries, US President George Bush turned his attention to the nation’s energy industry as early economic indicators offered reason for optimism and a speedy recovery.

The Bush administration, eager to avoid repeating the error-prone response to Hurricane Katrina, mounted a broad mobilisation of government assistance today to areas of Texas and Louisiana slammed by Hurricane Rita.

FEDERAL authorities began counting down to Hurricane Rita's arrival with last-minute promises to deliver fuel to hundreds of thousands of evacuees fleeing the shifting storm that covered half of the Gulf of Mexico.

THE new acting director of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) yesterday pledged to intensify efforts to find more permanent housing for the tens of thousands of Hurricane Katrina survivors in shelters.

The new acting director of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency today pledged to intensify efforts to find more permanent housing for the tens of thousands of Hurricane Katrina survivors now in shelters.