it would be at least seven years before the town is back to near-normal . A longtime resident , Diane Bourgeois , has moved 15 miles inland to an apartment and said she doubts she will rebuild . Her home was razed . When she asked why , she said , `` I do n't know , the memories . It will just never be the same . Ca n't risk it all again . '' David MacDonald , pastor of Calvary Independent Baptist Church in Bay St. Louis , said , `` We get crews coming down , but they are thinning out as the months go on . `` So it 's trying to let the people know there is still a need down here , especially in the area of housing . And just the mental and spiritual needs that are down here -- just still overwhelming . '' In New Orleans , Bush participated in a moment of silence at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. . Charter School for Science and Technology to remember Katrina victims . He said that the U.S. government has n't forgotten the Gulf Coast and that federal efforts to make
NEW ORLEANS , Louisiana -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Two years after Hurricane Katrina devastated coastal areas of Louisiana and Mississippi , residents say much of America has forgotten their plight . President Bush and first lady Laura Bush pause for a moment of silence Wednesday at a New Orleans school . But President Bush said Wednesday the federal government has been persistent in pushing recovery efforts . `` I would like them to know that we still need all the help and caring and volunteers . We need it bad . People do n't realize . They just do n't realize , '' Bay St. Louis , Mississippi , resident Linda Fallon said . The beachfront communities of Bay St. Louis and Waveland , Mississippi , were nearly destroyed in Katrina 's fury . Two years later , one-third of Bay St. Louis residents have n't returned . Business has moved inland . Watch the struggle to rebuild in Mississippi '' `` Without the people , we do n't have a town . We do n't have a city , we do n't have a place apart , '' Bay St. Louis Mayor Eddie Favre said Tuesday . He predicted