Federal funding of an estimated $32.7 billion is required to rebuild and repair the nearly one million homes destroyed or damaged in areas hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina, according to The Enterprise Foundation.

According to the Enterprise analysis, 455,000 homes in those areas must be rebuilt entirely and another 475,000 need repairs ranging from relatively minor to the substantial. Of these homes, more than 280,000 were occupied by families and individuals earning $20,000 or less. Another 197,000 homes were occupied by families and individuals earning between $20,000 and $35,000.

Enterprise's estimate includes the costs to demolish homes that are beyond repair, perform initial site cleanup and preparation (but not large scale environmental remediation) and engage in a wide range of home repair and replacement housing activities. The Enterprise analysis assumes that a substantial number of homeowners and rental property owners lack adequate insurance to cover all the costs of rebuilding and repairs.

Enterprise estimates that the total cost to repair and rebuild housing in the affected areas is $87.6 billion. The $32.7 billion in federal funding required represents the gap after accounting for insurance and other resources available to the property owners. The estimate assumes that federal funds will pay 100 percent of the gap for the poorest families and that assistance will phase out for families with incomes over $50,000 a year. Higher-income families will still be able to tap federal low-interest loan programs and FEMA payments up to $26,500. The analysis did not estimate the costs of temporary housing assistance to evacuees.

The Enterprise analysis is based on 2000 Census data compiled by the Urban Institute for areas identified by AIR Worldwide Corp. as most severely affected. The affected areas include all or part of 16 counties in Mississippi, 13 parishes in Louisiana and 3 counties in Alabama.

The counties in Mississippi are Hancock, Harrison and Jackson (Biloxi); Forrest and Lamar (Hattiesburg); Clarke, George, Jones, Lauderdale, Marion, Pearl Rover, Perry, Pike, Stone, Walthall and Wayne. The parishes in Louisiana are: Livingston (Baton Rouge), Lafourche and Terrebonne (Houma); Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany (New Orleans), Assumption, Tangipahoa and Washington. The counties in Alabama are Baldwin and Mobile (Mobile) and Choctaw.