NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Thousands of people who fled Hurricane Gustav forced the city to reluctantly open its doors Wednesday, while President Bush returned to the site of one of the biggest failures of his presidency to show that the government had turned a corner since its bungled response to Katrina.

Faced with traffic backups on paths into the city, Mayor Ray Nagin gave up checking ID badges and automobile placards designed to keep residents out until early Thursday. Those who returned said if the city was safe enough for repair crews and health care workers, it was safe enough for them, too.

But once back at home, tens of thousands of people had no power and no idea when it might return. Across the state, nearly 1.2 million homes and businesses were without electricity, and officials said it could take as long as a month to fix all outages.

“There is no excuse for the delay. We absolutely need to quicken the pace at which power is restored,” Gov. Bobby Jindal said.

Restoring power was critical to reopening schools, businesses and neighborhoods. Without electricity, gas stations could not pump fuel, and hospitals were running out of fuel for generators.

Some places never lost power, including the Superdome, where the Saints planned to open their regular football season Sunday.

In Jefferson Parish, which also reopened Wednesday, officials reported that most sewage-treatment stations were out of service because there was no power. The parish urged residents not to flush toilets, wash clothes or dishes, or even take showers out of concern that the system might backup and send sewage flowing in home and businesses.

After touring an emergency center and flooded-out farmland, President Bush praised the government response to Gustav as “excellent,” but he urged utility companies in neighboring states to send extra manpower to Louisiana if they could spare it.

The administration’s swift reaction was a significant change from its response three years ago to Katrina, a far more devastating storm. Roughly 1,600 people were killed, and the White House was harshly criticized for stepping in too late.

To residents who lived through Katrina, that failure was still fresh.

“What do I care if Bush is visiting? I’m still trying to get my house back together from Katrina,” housekeeper Flora Raymond said. “This time things went better, but we still need help from the last time.”

In the days before Gustav arrived, nearly 2 million people were evacuated from the Louisiana coast. Only 16 deaths were attributed to the storm in the U.S.

Nearly 80,000 people remained in shelters in Louisiana and surrounding states. An estimated 18,000 people fled from New Orleans on buses and trains provided by the city. Officials did not expect to begin bringing them back until this weekend.

Inside the shelters, the days of living on a cot with strangers on all sides was taking a toll. At a church in Montgomey, Ala., an argument in a parking lot between two sisters over the gas money needed to return to New Orleans erupted into a fight that ended with slashed tires, a punch in the face and an arrest.

“I wanted to give her something,” Samantha Williams said, holding her swelling lip. “But she wanted so much more.”

Five people were arrested Wednesday in only the second case of attempted looting in New Orleans since the city emptied. Worried about potential looting of vacant properties, Nagin said the city would maintain its dusk-to-dawn curfew indefinitely.