US president George Bush has resisted calls for an independent investigation into his government's response to Hurricane Katrina, announcing plans to head up his own inquiry into the widely-criticised recovery effort.
US President George Bush
Senator Hillary Clinton claimed federal emergency planning had become "a recipe for disaster," under Mr Bush.
She is one of several politicians who have demanded full accountability and a probe modelled on the 9/11 commission.
Two Senate committees have also announced plans to hold hearings into the desperately slow disaster response.
A total of 96 Britons remain missing and the British Consulate has dispatched rapid response teams to aid the search.
Most are believed to be long-term residents.
Andrew McInnes, from Devizes, is desperately trying to track down his father David who was living in one of the worst-hit areas.
"We have been out of touch for a while but he was actually living in New Orleans," he said.
"We don't have a current address for him and as far as I know he is still missing."
Mr Bush declared that now was not the time to assign blame, but the debate over what went wrong is only just beginning.