FORT PIERCE, Florida Sept 8 (AFP) - President George W. Bush Wednesday joined volunteers handing out bags of ice in the steaming Florida heat to residents who lost their power and in some cases their houses to Hurricane Frances.
Joined by his brother Jeb Bush -- the governor of this southeastern state -- the president talked briefly to several residents at an emergency distribution point set up by volunteers here, one of the cities worst hit by Hurricane Frances.
"It was very nice to talk to him," said Joycelle Friason, an elderly lady whose power was knocked out by the storm and who was among the hundreds of people who lined up in their cars at the distribution point.
Bush, leaning through her car window, told her: "God bless you, we are here to help you," Friason said, her voice shaking with emotion.
"I told him I'll vote for him," she said proudly.
Larry Melvin, a young man sporting dreadlocks, said he was "very excited to talk to the president."
"He said he'd give us what we need," said Melvin.
"I'd never met him before," he said, smiling.
The president and the governor also talked to volunteers from the Red Cross and faith-based agencies working at the roadside distribution center, in sight of a row of houses severely damaged by the storm.
The volunteers handed out not only water and ice, but also iced lattes and doughnuts donated by a large company.
When Frances made landfall over the weekend, it smashed several homes, knocked out power lines and felled trees.