Katrina Coverage

WASHINGTON Oct 6, 2005 - The federal government's tab for hurricane relief and rebuilding efforts is likely to cost less than $150 billion, Congress' top budget analyst said Thursday, an amount significantly less than original guesstimates tossed about in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.
Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin told the House Budget Committee that his agency now estimates damage to homes, government buildings, oil refineries and businesses will total between $70 billion and $130 billion. Of that, at least $40 billion is covered by private insurance, he said.
Those figures don't include the immediate relief and rescue efforts, which have been paid for out of the $62 billion Congress has already approved. About $20 billion of those funds have been earmarked so far, Federal Emergency Management Agency chief R. David Paulison told lawmakers...