by Olivier Knox
SIOUX CITY, Iowa, Aug 14 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush announced Saturday he would visit Florida Sunday to survey the devastation wrought by Hurricane Charley and try to comfort those afflicted by the deadly storm.
"Many lives have been affected by this hurricane, and I know you join me in sending out prayers to those people who look for solace and help," Bush told supporters at a rally in this battleground state.
"Tomorrow I'm going to travel down to Florida to visit with those whose lives were hurt by Hurricane Charley. I wanted them to know that our federal government is responding quickly," said Bush, who released federal disaster relief aid just hours after Charley struck the state's coast.
The president's efforts won unambiguous support from his Democratic White House rival, Senator John Kerry, who expressed his and wife Teresa's "heartfelt sympathies" and prayers for those left in the storm's wake.
"In an instant, they have lost loved ones and seen everything they have worked for swept away. Now the difficult work of recovery begins. We offer our full support to the president and governor as the people of Florida rebuild their communities and their lives," Kerry said in a statement.
Charley left a trail of devastation across Florida on Saturday, with authorities fearing a significant number of dead in a coastal town that bore the brunt of its terrifying force.
The hurricane, the worst since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, destroyed thousands of homes, left more than one million people without power, blocked roads and tore through airports, flipping over planes.
Underscoring the uneasy nature of the political truce on matters touching the hurricane, a Bush campaign aide told that the Democrat had issued a statement on Charley asked, only half in jest, "Did he hit us on it?"
And as he wrapped up a hectic five-day, eight-state campaign swing that began in Florida, the key state in the disputed 2000 election, Bush did not ease off attacking Kerry.
He said Kerry, who has said he would roll back Bush's tax cuts for the topmost earners, would raise taxes on the middle class because "the rich have got accountants" to skirt paying their share.
"We're not going to let him," said Bush.
The president was to fly down to Florida on Sunday and return to Washington later in the day after looking in on federal and state disaster relief efforts that have pulled in thousands of National Guard, military and police from outside the state, which is governed by his brother, Jeb Bush.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said that the president would seek to stay out of the way of those efforts and "minimize" the significant disruptions that always accompany president travel.
Such visits usually monopolize the attention of local police, who stop traffic for the president's motorcade, escort his entourage, keep protesters at bay and provide additional security.