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Humberto Cut Electric But Wasn't Very Powerful

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By MICHAEL GRACZYK, The Associated Press

Published: September 15, 2007

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

Humberto, the first hurricane to hit the United States 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.

Humberto's path into Texas was close to the one taken two years ago by Hurricane Rita. Damages, 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.

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

The one death attributed to the storm occurred early Thursday in Bridge City, when 80-year-old John Simon was killed as his backyard patio collapsed on him in the high winds, Maj. Joey Hargrave of the Bridge City police said.

In Port Arthur, two of three major crude oil and liquid hydrocarbons plants idled because of power problems had power restored. Refineries for Valero Energy and Total Petrochemicals USA were in the process of being restarted, company spokesmen said. Shell Oil said its Motiva Port Arthur Refinery had some power restored but remained down as assessments continued.

Far off in the open ocean, Tropical Storm Ingrid, which Thursday became the ninth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, was about 755 miles east of the Lesser Antilles and moving toward the west-northwest near 7 mph. The National Hurricane Center was expecting it to continue at that pace for the next 24 hours and then turn slightly to the northwest.

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