Washington--President Bush on Tuesday will travel to Texas and Louisiana to get a closer look at widespread damage from Hurricane Rita, which virtually wiped out some coastal communities.

He's expected to survey damage to oil refineries in the region -- which are among seven oil facilities near the Texas-Louisiana state line that Rita damaged Saturday.

With about 1.7 million barrels of daily capacity, those seven plants refine about 10 percent of the nation's oil, or about twice as much capacity as the four refineries still off line after Hurricane Katrina.

The president's seventh visit to the region after both Katrina and Rita, comes as Bush says he wants to make it easier for the military to take charge after disasters like hurricanes.

The White House acknowledged Monday the proposal raises "a lot of issues" that need resolution.

Michael Brown, who resigned as head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency under criticism for its handling of relief after Hurricane Katrina, will testify Tuesday before a congressional panel.

Committee members are expected to scrutinize the decision to keep Brown on the federal payroll after he quit. (Full story [1])

As flooded communities bailed out Monday from Hurricane Rita's aftermath, local officials in Texas and Louisiana expressed frustration at the pace of state and federal assistance.

Rita landed its knockout punch northeast of Galveston in Texas and west of New Orleans, deluging the Louisiana parishes of Cameron, Vermilion and Calcasieu and Jefferson County in Texas.

Rita roared ashore Saturday morning near the Texas-Louisiana border with 120 mph winds tearing neighborhoods to bits and leaving some areas under up to 15 feet of water.

Much of the hurricane-hit area had been evacuated ahead of the storm, contributing to the low number of deaths linked to the storm.

A Texas couple was killed when an uprooted tree fell on their home, according to The Associated Press. Also in Texas, a man was electrocuted as he tried to connect a generator, AP reported.

A Rita-spawned tornado killed one person in Mississippi, and a Texas man died from a falling tree. (City-by-city impact [1])

In Beaumont, Texas, the bodies of a man, a woman and three children -- who apparently were overcome by fumes from a generator -- were found in an apartment, authorities.

Another 24 people died Friday -- before the storm hit -- when a bus evacuating nursing home residents caught fire on Interstate 45 south of Dallas.

New estimates of insured losses range from $2.5 billion to $7 billion.

Sheriff slams FEMA

Days after Rita's rising waters trapped many in Vermilion Parish, the sheriff said everyone there has been accounted for, but he blasted the Federal Emergency Management Agency for not acting quickly enough to help residents.

"I wish for once FEMA would cut all the red tape and expedite the supplies and the services needed for all of these people who have lost their homes," Sheriff Michael Couvillon told CNN.

He added, "This is the worst flood anybody from Vermilion Parish ever remembered."

The sheriff said at least 200 people were rescued in the parish, and that he was satisfied with the help he received from the military and other agencies.

"It appears that we had a very successful recovery and evacuation of all people that were stranded," he said.

Rita littered the streets of Nederland, Texas, with trees and debris, but the mayor told CNN he is still waiting for help from the state and federal governments.

Mayor Dick Nugent said the city of 17,000 received some damage from Rita, but that the "aftermath that we're fighting seems to be worse than the original storm."

Nederland, in Jefferson County, has no electricity, water or sewer service and is hoping to receive generators so that the city can begin restoring services, he said.

Residents returning

In New Orleans, residents and business owners in certain neighborhoods were allowed back into the city Monday morning "to inspect and begin cleanup of their properties," Mayor Ray Nagin announced.

Rita pushed water over city levees by about 2 feet -- levees that had been provisionally repaired by sandbags after Katrina flooded 80 percent of the city.

Worst hit was the Lower 9th Ward, the first section of New Orleans inundated by Katrina.

Residents and business owners in the Algiers neighborhood will be allowed to return Monday, Nagin said in a written statement. Business owners also will be allowed back to the French Quarter, Uptown and the Central Business District.

Other areas of the city remain off limits "until further notice."