abroad as well as at home, which "will dampen the adverse effects of the reduction in supply", the report said. Privately insured losses from Hurricane Katrina could exceed 30 billion dollars - in the range of the payouts of 32.5 billion dollars after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The gross state product of Louisiana represents about 1.2 per cent of U.S. GDP, and that for Mississippi about 0.7 per cent of the national figure. The CBO said it anticipated an economic pick up by next hear, as rebuilding accelerates. Each housing start adds over 200,000 dollars to GDP, meaning that each block of 100,000 housing units - homes and apartments - would raise GDP by over 20 billion dollars, or about 0.2 per cent. Officials have estimated that more than 370,000 homes were destroyed when Hurricane Katrina hurled with Force 4 strength along the Gulf Coast, breaking open flood dams in New Orleans. New Orleans will have a slower comeback than the rest of Louisiana and Mississippi because flood waters must still recede and the city must dry out before its 500,000 plus residents are allowed to return. Federal outlays for disaster relief and rebuilding could also weigh heavily on an already overstretched federal budget. Last week, Congress rushed through a 10.5 billion dollar emergency package, and U.S. President George W. Bush was expected to ask for another 40 to 50 billion dollars in the near future. --SP 2255 Local Time 1955 GMT
