Washington ? Laura Bush is reprising her role as her husband’s first defender, making several trips to the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast as President Bush’s approval ratings sink to their lowest level yet.

Laura Bush is highlighting the positive that has come out of the storm, telling the stories of strangers helping one another in a time of tragedy.

Laura Bush said Tuesday that much more human good than bad has come from the disaster, despite what people see on TV. She said the evacuees she has met in her three trips to the Gulf Coast are hopeful and thankful that they don’t have to start from rock bottom because of the donations and the kindness of strangers.

“That’s what I’ve seen at each of the shelters I’ve visited,” she said. “I’ve never heard a single word of complaint.”

Laura Bush has performed this job before. With approval ratings much higher than her husband’s, she was sent out across the country to help him win re-election. She also made a goodwill trip this year to the Middle East, where her husband is especially unpopular.

This time Mrs. Bush is focusing on stories of human compassion while the president is under a barrage of criticism about the government’s slow response to the disaster. Some have suggested that he would have acted faster if so many of the victims weren’t mostly poor and black, remarks that Mrs. Bush condemned as “disgusting.”