Cedric Brumfield sits with his daughter and granddaughters last Sunday at the site of their home, decimated by Hurricane Katrina, in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Louisiana. - Reuters

NEW ORLEANS (AP):

Members of Congress toured the city yesterday and President George W. Bush was headed for the region to see the state of recovery efforts one year after the city was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.

The visits come as the city set today - 'Katrina's' first anniversary - as the deadline for homeowners to gut or otherwise clean up properties damaged by the storm.

Fifteen Democratic members of Congress gathered in the French Quarter during the morning for a bus tour of stricken areas. They planned to visit the Mississippi Gulf Coast later in the day.

Slow recovery

The Democrats' trip was led by Rep. William Jefferson of New Orleans, who said the recovery is slow because of the complexity of the issues involved, and concerns that many evacuees have about returning.

"We've got a lot of work to do. We have to have a visit and stay committed to it," Jefferson said.

The president was to visit Mississippi yesterday, then come to New Orleans for events today marking the anniversary, his 13th visit to the Gulf Coast since 'Katrina'.

On Sunday, NAACP President and CEO Bruce S. Gordon led a walking tour of the Lower Ninth Ward to a neighbourhood memorial Sunday. Gordon said he believes government, on all levels, continues to fail residents in that still devastated neighbourhood.

"None of us should feel good about where we stand now," Gordon said during dedication of a monument to the neighbourhood's storm victims.

City officials hope to accelerate the cleanup with today deadline for homeowners. People who do not comply with it after being put on notice face a range of possible penalties, from liens being placed on their property to the seizure or destruction of homes.

Some residents hope the deadline will spur a clean-up that will lead to more redevelopment and repopulation after the exodus that followed Katrina."To see a home cleaned up, even if it's not occupied, does a lot psychologically," said Bari Landry. She sees signs of life in the flooded Lakeview neighbourhood, but also signs of disaster: deserted houses, windows and doors standing wide open, and roof-high weeds.

In the badly-flooded Mid City neighbourhood, the congregation of First United Baptist Church still holds services under a tent outside their battered building.

"We have a lot of work in this neighbourhood," the Rev. Marshall Truehill Jr. told congregants on Sunday. He challenged them to go door to door to find people in need of help, including anyone who would need a ride out of town if another hurricane hits New Orleans.