Former presidents Clinton, Bush to attend Katrina commemoration

by Jordan Fabian - 08/20/15 12:37 PM ET

Former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton will travel to New Orleans next week to mark the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

{mosads}The two ex-presidents will join President Obama during a week of events to celebrate the city’s recovery from the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

Bush will tour a charter school damaged by the storm on Friday, Aug. 28. The school’s book and material collections were restored thanks in part to funds from former first lady Laura Bush’s nonprofit foundation. The couple will also speak at an education roundtable, according to organizers.

Clinton is scheduled to speak at a community gathering on Saturday, the official anniversary of Katrina’s landfall.

Bush and Clinton’s trips won’t overlap with Obama’s; the president will tour neighborhoods damaged by the storm and deliver a speech in New Orleans on Thursday.

The trip will be especially resonant for Bush, whose presidency was marred by his botched response to the 2005 storm, which devastated New Orleans and other communities lining the Gulf Coast.

Bush faced heavy criticism for his decision to fly over — but not visit — New Orleans in the immediate aftermath of the Category 5 hurricane, a move that became a symbol of his administration’s response.

Five years later, he admitted it was a “huge mistake” to not stop in the Crescent City and to be photographed overlooking the damage on the ground.

Clinton was directly involved in the response to the storm. Bush tapped his father, former President George H.W. Bush, and Clinton to establish a disaster relief fund that raised $130 million to aid recovery efforts along the Gulf Coast.

Tags Bill Clinton George W. Bush Hurricane Katrina