Bush: Gustav coordination better than Katrina

AUSTIN, Texas (CNN) -- President Bush said Monday that government response to Hurricane Gustav has been better than the response to Hurricane Katrina, the 2005 storm for which federal efforts were widely criticized.

"The coordination on this storm is a lot better than during Katrina," said Bush, who was visiting the Texas Emergency Operations Center in Austin.

He credited much of the improved response to the governors of Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama.

"There was clearly a spirit of sharing assets, of listening to somebody's problem and saying, 'How can we best address them?' " he said. Watch President Bush give credit to governors »

"What I look for is to determine whether or not assets are in place to help, whether or not there's coordination and whether or not there's preparation for recovery," Bush said. "To that end, I feel good about this event."

The emergency operations center is where federal, state and local officials in Texas met to coordinate their disaster responses. Bush spoke to the media and then spent about 25 minutes in the center's briefing room before visiting with workers at the center.

Bush cautioned that although Gustav didn't appear to threaten the same kind of devastation Katrina left, Gustav wasn't finished.

"This storm is yet to pass," he said. "It's a serious event."

Bush also planned to visit a response center in San Antonio later Monday.

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