Recovery, ruin visible in Texas a month after Ike

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) -- A month after Hurricane Ike, piles of Sheetrock, appliances, furniture and family mementos are dotting most streets around Galveston.

Electronic road signs in southeast Texas warn drivers to "Watch for cows next 20 miles," a reminder that few fences remain to hem in livestock. Blue tarps cover 11,000 roofs for 100 miles from Houston to the Louisiana line, and hundreds of people still aren't accounted for.

Ike is the most expensive storm in Texas history, with an estimated pricetag of $11.4 billion so far.

A local official in Galveston thinks it's going to take a couple of years to completely recover. Even now, about 10,000 homes don't have electricity. It may be at least another month before some people can turn the lights on again.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)