PORT ARTHUR, Texas — Nearly four days after Hurricane Rita hit, many of the storm's sweltering victims along the Texas Gulf Coast were waiting for electricity, gasoline, water and other relief yesterday, prompting one top emergency official to complain that people are "living like cavemen."

In the refinery towns of Port Arthur and Beaumont, crews struggled to cross debris-clogged streets to deliver generators and water to people stranded by Rita. They predicted it could be a month before power is restored and said water and sewer systems could not function until more generators arrived.

Red tape also was blamed for the delays.

Port Arthur Mayor Oscar Ortiz, whose home was destroyed by fire after the hurricane, said "we've had 101 promises" for aid, "but it's all bureaucracy." He and other officials gathered at a hotel-turned-command center, where a dirty American flag found among the debris was hung on the wall.

John Owens, emergency-management coordinator and deputy police chief in the town of 57,000, said pleas for state and federal relief were met with requests for paperwork. "We have been living like cavemen, sleeping in cars, doing bodily functions outside," he said.

Temperatures climbed into the upper 90s, and officials worried swarms of mosquitoes might spread disease.

The White House yesterday said President Bush had extended complete federal funding for debris removal and other government assistance through Oct. 27.

In Beaumont, state officials briefed Bush and Texas Gov. Rick Perry on relief efforts. After the meeting, Bush said, "Obviously, this area is hurting. The governor knows that. I know firsthand how it's hurt."

With the hurricane crimping the nation's tight energy supply, Bush urged Americans to conserve gasoline and ordered federal agencies to curtail nonessential travel and otherwise save energy by encouraging car pooling and the use of mass transit.

He tried to set an example yesterday, reducing the size of his motorcade by eliminating some of the vans reserved for the media, staff and guests. Still, one of the biggest expenses of any presidential trip is the $6,029-an-hour cost of flying Air Force One.

Bush has made seven trips to areas hit by Katrina and Rita in fewer than four weeks.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan defended the trips as an essential part of the president's job: "The president believes that it's important to get a firsthand account of the operations that are ongoing to provide relief to the people in need."

Bush later traveled to Lake Charles, La., where he said officials decided to make $2,000 federal payments to victims of Rita, just as they have to those affected by Katrina.

Perry, meanwhile, visited Port Arthur, where local officials said it could be three to five days before people could return and three to five weeks before power is restored. "There's always going to be those discombobulations, but the fact is, everyone is doing everything possible to restore power back to this area," Perry said.

About 476,000 people remained without electricity in Texas, in addition to about 285,000 in Louisiana. About 15,000 out-of-state utility workers were being brought in to help restore power.

About 2,000 Port Arthur residents who stayed through the storm were advised to find other places to live until utilities are restored. Ortiz said it could be two weeks before people are allowed back into Port Arthur.

After seeing a swarm of ravenous mosquitoes around his storm-battered home in Vidor, Harry Smith and his family decided to leave. They hitchhiked 10 miles to an emergency staging area and got on a bus to San Antonio.

"It can't be any worse than here," said Smith, 49, a pipefitter. "This is the worst storm I've seen in the 46 years I've lived here."

In Louisiana, Calcasieu Parish Police Jury President Hal McMillin said residents who come back would be without air conditioning, and risk insect bites and the mosquito-borne West Nile virus. A mandatory evacuation order remained in effect for 10 southwestern Louisiana parishes.

"There's a good chance we could have an outbreak or something," McMillin said.

Charity

FEMA, not Red Cross, paying for motel stays

WASHINGTON — The American Red Cross will be reimbursed $100 million from the federal government for motel rooms housing Hurricane Katrina victims.

The charity has raised more than $800 million from private sources and indicated some of it would go to house hurricane evacuees in hotel rooms, an expense the organization expects to reach $95 million by mid-October. Yesterday, the charity acknowledged that, instead, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will pay for those rooms.

News of the federal government's role in bankrolling some of the Red Cross' work could potentially turn off donors who believe the 124-year-old charity operates independently of FEMA.

"It's certainly not right to be taking credit for something that the government is already doing," said Daniel Borochoff, president of the American Institute of Philanthropy, a charity watchdog.

The Red Cross has received almost 80 percent of the private contributions to Hurricane Katrina relief, which has topped $1.2 billion. The charity has said it expects to spend $2 billion aiding about 1 million families.

Red Cross officials acknowledged yesterday that the charity's portrayal of its financial role in the motel program may have caused confusion.

"The bottom line is we will be clearer," said the charity's spokeswoman, Carrie Martin.

First lady

Clothes distributed as TV show films

BILOXI, Miss. — First lady Laura Bush arrived at a crowded civic center in Biloxi yesterday to help dispense free clothing to people picking through bins — and the cameras of popular ABC program "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" were rolling.

"Don't look like you're waiting for them," a TV producer called to dozens of people inside the hall awaiting Bush and her retinue. But these storm victims couldn't resist the urge to cheer for the first lady.

"It's heartbreaking. ... It really is heartbreaking," the president's wife said near the end of her fifth tour of storm-stricken regions, making a point of spotlighting "faith-based" charities and government working hand in hand here. "It's really important that we don't lose hope and keep working."

The first lady's appearance on the makeshift set of the prime-time network program was taped yesterday. The program showcases how one woman from New Orleans whose home was redone by ABC before Katrina and survived the storm has come to "pay it forward" with help for victims in Biloxi; it won't air until early December.

Compiled from The Associated Press, The Washington Post and Chicago Tribune