State and local officials must come to terms with the storm’s cost.
Price tag could hit $160B, making it costliest storm in nation’s history
WASHINGTON — As the Gulf Coast come to grips with Harvey’s human toll, state and local officials also must come to terms with the cost.
On Wednesday, a day after meeting behind closed doors with President Donald Trump and top federal officials, Gov. Greg Abbott predicted publicly for the first time that the federal disaster-aid price tag for Harvey will set a multibillion-dollar record — significantly higher than Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
“When you look at comparisons — the population, the size, the square-mile area impacted both by the hurricane swath and the flooding — it’s far larger than Katrina, far larger than Sandy,” Abbott said.
Federal spending on Katrina has been estimated at $120 billion. Superstorm Sandy, which hit the New Jersey coast in 2012, is estimated to have cost nearly $50 billion. Estimates on Harvey are still emerging, but a preliminary estimate from the private weather firm AccuWeather puts the potential price tag at $160 billion, making it the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.
The emerging financial toll is making it increasingly clear that Congress will need to pony up substantial disaster relief money when lawmakers return from a monthlong recess after Labor Day.
Abbott said Trump assured him that Texas’ recovery assistance needs will be met. He also said he and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a fellow Texas Republican who is a member of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, are working on firming up a federal aid request, even as swift-water