Damage from Dolly may top $1 billion

BROWNSVILLE, Texas, July 25 (UPI) -- Estimates of damage in Texas from Hurricane Dolly could reach $1 billion, an insurance council said.

Although damage estimates are sure to be revised, "a big broad estimate of damage would be $1 billion," Mark Hanna of the Insurance Council of Texas told the San Antonio Express-News.

"But, had the storm hit a little farther south, it could have been $3 billion or $4 billion," Hanna said.

The hurricane touched down in Willacy County, which is lightly populated, the newspaper reported.

Insurance agents were hampered by massive power outages. "It's best to say the adjusters are en route. I've talked to insurance agencies down there who just got their phones and power back on," Hanna said.

American Electrical Power Texas spokesman Ken Griffin said the storm interrupted service for 215,000 of their customers.

"We're still doing our assessment in the heavily damaged areas," he said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency Thursday said disaster relief would be provided to state and local governments and some non-profit organizations, the newspaper reported.

"FEMA will pick up 75 percent and the state and local governments will work out the other 25 percent," said FEMA spokesman Earl Armstrong.