9-16-05 - A few dozen refugees who watched President Bush's speech to the nation about Hurricane Katrina Thursday said they felt slighted because he never visited the shelter where they're staying and by his administration's slow response to the hurricane's devastation.

Melissa Washington, 28, and Samuel Lewis, 31, were among those who had a string of profanities to describe their feelings about what Bush had to say, which they and others summed up as empty promises.

"He had no intention of coming to help us. He should have been there 24 hours after. That was a national disaster _ an entire city!" Lewis said. "He is telling me he is going to rebuild my city. Still, when I go back home, you are going to rebuild my city, but what about all the stuff I lost? What about jobs?"

Washington was also frustrated with what she heard and Bush's failure to visit those who continue to sleep on cots in shelters.

"He didn't even come down to see what was going on," she said. "Where was he? Chilling while we were out there dying with water over my head. How do you think my 9-month old baby was feeling and my mother who can't walk?"