This is from a PsyOps article, but never mind that for now. It's interesting to note the similarities:
I have always believed that Hurricane Andrew was one of the major reasons that President George Bush failed to be reelected. Nightly television news showed American citizens living among the rubble for days. The television anchors implied that the Federal Government did very little to ease their suffering. Partisan politics may have been involved, since the Democratic Governor of Florida apparently hesitated before asking for federal aid. Three days passed between Andrew's assault and the arrival of federal help. Kate Hale, the Dade County emergency director, went on live national television on 27 August with tears in her eyes and castigated the federal government.
<...>
An example of the way the nation saw the relief effort can be found in Hurricane! - The Rage of Hurricane Andrew, Patricia Lantier-Sampon, Gareth Stevens Publishing, Milwaukee, WI, 1993. Some of the author's comments are:
August 25 - President Bush had flown in for a two-hour visit, but so far there was no federal relief. Electric power lines were down, food and clean water were in short supply, and people were sleeping outside with no place to wash up and no way to begin cleanup.
On Tuesday, September 1, President Bush made a second visit to Dade County, but it was two weeks after the storm before 22,000 National Guard members finally came to southern Florida.
The photographs of President Bush depict him walking stiffly and surrounded by military personnel. Photographs of candidate Clinton show him visiting the homeless without accompaniment, hugging children, and "feeling their pain."
Whatever the reason, the result was that American citizens were depicted nightly sitting under the stars by the wrecked remains of their homes while well-fed Haitian boat people were shown living in clean military tents in the U.S. base at Guantanamo, Cuba. Since that time, every U.S. President has made a point of personally visiting and being photographed at a domestic disaster scene. Text
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509010175sep01,1,7819431.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hedNightweed's Hurricane Katrina Aid Organizations