President Bush's job approval has risen after slumping to new lows on criticism of his handling of deadly Hurricane Katrina, two polls showed yesterday.
Mr Bush's approval rating climbed to 45 per cent in a CNN/ USA Today/Gallup poll taken this week, up from 40 per cent in a similar poll taken a week ago.
A Fox News poll also showed Mr Bush with a 45 per cent approval rating. That survey showed a rise in Mr Bush's standing compared to a mid-month poll that gave him a 41 per cent approval rating.
A high-profile response by the president to Hurricane Rita, the latest storm to hit the Gulf Coast region, appeared to give him a lift.
Seventy-one per cent of those polled by CNN/ USA Today/Gallup gave Mr Bush high marks for his handling of Rita, which hit Texas and Louisiana last Saturday.
But Rita caused little loss of life compared to Katrina, which killed more than 1,000 people and displaced a million. Only 40 per cent approved of the president's handling of Katrina.
Although he cut short his month-long Texas vacation to return to Washington after Katrina, Mr Bush did not arrive back at the White House until two days after the storm made its landfall on the Gulf Coast.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency was heavily criticised for its role in co-ordinating the initial Katrina response.
Mr Bush has since replaced the agency's director, Michael Brown, whom he initially praised, and has said he takes responsibility for any problems in the federal response.