Texans Seek Aid in Congress as Ike Cost Estimates Soar

By STEWART M. POWELL and BENNETT ROTH

Texas suffered damage from Hurricane Ike estimated by government officials and private insurers on Tuesday to range from $27 billion to $52 billion.

The estimate combines the value of losses expected to be submitted to the federal government or to private property insurance companies.

Mayor Bill White of Houston described the potential range of costs to both the federal government and insurance companies in an interview with the Houston Chronicle. He then joined Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas and Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst on Capitol Hill to testify before a Senate Homeland Security subcommittee on disaster recovery.

FEMA — the Federal Emergency Management Agency — has not completed damage estimates that would be submitted to the federal government. "But," White said, "I would not be surprised if the total figures (for the federal government) weren't in the $20 billion to $40 billion range. We're going to be enormous."

Latest insurance industry estimates compiled by the Insurance Information Institute of New York foresee privately insured losses ranging from $7 billion to $12 billion. The tally of private insurance losses, coupled with White's, provides the range of all losses of $27 billion to $52 billion. ....