New Orleans ? Vice President Dick Cheney on Thursday toured parts of the ravaged Gulf Coast, claiming significant progress but acknowledging immense obstacles to a full recovery.

“We can do it,” he said, first in Gulfport, Miss., and then in New Orleans, where he stood on a bridge on a levee on the edge of a flooded section of the city.

The vice president said it was too early to estimate the total cost of reconstruction from Hurricane Katrina. He dismissed the idea of raising taxes to pay for storm recovery and the war in Iraq.

Standing by Louisiana’s governor, Democrat Kathleen Blanco, Cheney spoke of how the flooding of New Orleans and the destruction of many communities in the region was “a major tragedy in modern times.”

“The positive news is we appear to be making progress,” said Cheney, who brought 800 pounds of bottled water aboard Air Force Two as a gesture of aid.

His visit was an attempt by President Bush to show an active role in the recovery effort after a slow and tentative start.

Joining Cheney on the trip were Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.