Residents stream into Ike-battered Galveston

Dead and missing
At least 62 deaths, 27 of them in Texas, were blamed on the Category 2 hurricane and its remnants. The body of a woman who apparently drowned was uncovered in a debris field north of Galveston.

Nearly 50 residents are still missing, LeBlanc said.

Roughly 45,000 of the city's 57,000 residents fled Galveston Island, about 50 miles southeast of Houston, along with hundreds of thousands more from other sections of the Texas coast.

Residents of the island's most severely damaged area, on the island's west end, were allowed to visit their homes but not permitted to stay.

Gov. Rick Perry toured damaged areas Wednesday and announced a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rental assistance program to help hurricane victims.

And in Austin, lawmakers preparing for the legislative session beginning in January were warned to prepare for the cost of the cleanup.

Texas' insurance commissioner told legislators that victims have filed close to 50,000 insurance claims so far, and that figure could reach 300,000 claims, potentially putting a handful of companies at financial risk.

Commissioner Mike Geeslin said the state-chartered Texas Windstorm Insurance Association could see its total claim losses reach $4 billion, and overall hurricane damage is likely to go higher.

Those losses would lead to an estimated drain on the state budget of $400 million per year as insurance companies seek to recoup some of their ballooning windstorm fund payments through tax credits.

Arredondo, whose home was destroyed, salvaged what they could — clothes, a few photographs, some jewelry and, to her surprise, most of her 35-year-old China set.

"I'm looking at this and I just don't know," said Arredondo, 58, who works at a golf course. "I just can't get over this. It's a shock. I could sit here and cry but oh well. We just have to make it day by day. We will be all right."

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