Cleanup begins in Texas, Louisiana

Three counties in Texas were declared disaster areas.

HOUSTON (AP) — Utility crews restored electricity Friday to half of the homes and businesses left without power after Hurricane Humberto, while experts estimated total damage from the storm would cost less than $500 million.

Humberto, the first hurricane to hit the U.S. in two years, continued to lose strength Friday as its remnants moved through Mississippi. The storm made landfall Thursday in Texas and then pushed across Louisiana.

The storm left as many as 120,000 Texas and Louisiana homes and businesses without power. While many would be restored by the weekend, some could be without power until Tuesday, said Joe Domino, Entergy Texas president and chief executive officer.

At High Island, the coastal town of 500 where the center of Humberto made landfall, many customers, including the local water utility, had generators for essential needs and kept fresh water flowing from taps.

“I think we can do better without lights than we can without water,” resident George Leger said.

Damage

Humberto’s path into Texas was close to the one taken two years ago by Hurricane Rita. Damage, however, were expected to be considerably less because Humberto was relatively small and made landfall in a sparsely populated area.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry declared three counties — Orange, Jefferson and Galveston — disaster areas, making them eligible for financial assistance. State military forces were brought in to help provide water, ice and equipment to aid in the cleanup.

On the Bolivar Peninsula, opposite and east of Galveston, officials estimated debris, most from High Island, amounted to about 1,500 cubic yards of structural material and 3,000 cubic yards of tree limbs and brush. That comes out to about 11⁄2 football fields three feet deep.

Damage from the storm was likely to cost less than $500 million, Risk Management Solutions, a California-based firm that quantifies catastrophe risks for insurance companies, said. The dollar figure included physical damage to homes and businesses, and business losses due to interruptions because of power outages and damage.