President George W. Bush called Hurricane Gustav a "serious event" on Monday.

Bush was in Texas for briefings on the storm, which came ashore Monday morning in Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane.

Bush received an hourlong briefing aboard Air Force One. He visited a Texas Emergency Operations Center in Austin and a command center in San Antonio to learn more.

He said he wants to ensure that assets are in place to handle the storm and preparations are being made to help the Gulf Coast recover.

Laura Bush Saw Mistakes

The president canceled a speech to the Republican National Convention on Monday night because of the hurricane. But Laura Bush has decided to speak as scheduled.

On the morning talk shows Monday, the first lady said lessons have been learned from Hurricane Katrina.

She told CNN that "mistakes were made by everyone" at all levels of government in the handling of Katrina three years ago. She said communication was poor among local, state and federal officials.

But, she said, "We have taken care of that."