"Electricity is the big issue right now. We're working double overtime to try to find all the generators that we can in the country to move in here," Perry said on Fox television. In a separate interview he estimated the cost of the storm to the state at eight billion dollars.

A day after the storm's rains and howling winds caused extensive damage over a wide area but caused no deaths, Perry said that "the cleanup effort is just beginning."

To avoid a repeat of gas shortages and traffic jams that marked the evacuation preceding the storm, the governor has asked fuel terminal owners and operators to begin replenishing supplies quickly at service stations.

Asked by CNN television if the state had enough gas and for those returning, Perry said: "We do. That's one of the things that we're really focused on now."

Flying over Austin on Saturday, Perry said major highways "were flowing nicely" without major disruptions.

The governor urged Texans to be patient and not to rush their return to Houston. In a statement issued on Saturday, Perry set out instructions for a staggered return to different parts of the city over several days, allowing emergency workers time to assess the damage and to clear debris.

"We do not yet have enough fuel along the return routes and in Houston to accommodate the return of everyone who evacuated," the statement said.

Schools were ordered to remain closed on Monday as hundreds of thousands of homes were still without electricity, affecting water and sewer services.

For the coastal region that took a direct hit from the hurricane, the governor warned against any immediate return. "Stay put, don't come back into southeast Texas today," Perry said on CNN.

The cost of the storm damage was estimated at "well over" eight billion dollars, and the federal government was expected to cover the bill, Perry said.

"Our expectation is that the federal government will be generous and appropriately so with Texas," he said.

Although initial reports suggested the storm was not the direct cause of any deaths, 24 members of a nursing home died when their bus exploded on a congested highway during the evacuation.

The Houston Chronicle reported that some rules were rescinded for vehicles to speed up the evacuation but the governor denied safety regulations had been sacrificed.

"We took no safety precautions away at all. I mean, we were very clear, this was to get as many vehicles on the road, to get people out of harm's way. But the safety requirements were aboslutely not waived."

The large-scale evacuation from the Houston area has come under criticism, with the mayor of Houston, Bill White, calling the state's response to the storm "totally unacceptable".

White accused state officials of failing to provide sufficient fuel supplies along routes out of the city, causing traffic to come a virtual standstill for hours.

Perry said there would be a review of the response but defended the evacuation as a success. "The largest evacuation in American history, and it went rather well. Next time, if we have to do it again, hopefully, we can do it even better," he said.

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