Road and Bridge Damage in Gulf Region Could Reach $5 Bln.

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epairing roads and bridges damaged by Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast states could cost as much as $5 billion, Department of Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said Tuesday after touring the region, Bloomberg reported.

Mineta said Tuesday that Mississippi would receive an initial $5 million payment for road and bridge repairs and said Congress would likely approve more money for projects, Bloomberg said.

He called Katrina’s fallout calling it the nation's worst-ever transportation disaster, the Associated Press reported.

Work began over the weekend to repair badly damaged Interstate 10 running through the Gulf Coast states and parallel U.S. 90, which is closer to the south coast. (Click here for previous coverage.)

Mississippi estimates that about 90% of U.S. 90 — which now ends abruptly in Gulfport, Miss., where some of the hurricane’s most severe damage was — remains in good condition, Bloomberg reported.