GALVESTON – As repair crews continue working to make this hurricane-ravaged island city inhabitable for the thousands of residents set to return this week, the mayor was headed to Washington to seek more than $2 billion in emergency federal aid.

The final price tag to fully restore Galveston after Hurricane Ike plowed ashore early Sept. 13 and displaced most of the 57,000 or so residents is still unknown.

"We haven't even begun to figure that out yet," Galveston City Manager Steve LeBlanc said Monday – two days before residents were to be allowed back to a hometown sorely lacking in basic services.

Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas, along with officials from the Port of Galveston and the University of Texas Medical Branch, will meet with a Senate ad hoc committee today to seek $2.3 billion in emergency appropriations. Galveston is hoping to get nearly $1.2 billion; UTMB, the city's hospital, about $600 million; and the port about $500 million.

"We hope the federal government will step up to the plate," Mr. LeBlanc said.

Hurricane Ike, a Category 2 storm, battered Galveston with 110-mph winds and a 12-foot storm surge, flooding homes and destroying businesses. The storm has been blamed for 61 deaths, including 26 in Texas.

Fearing some people were swept out to sea, authorities have searched some coastal counties since the storm hit but have had difficulties reaching certain areas.

Mr. LeBlanc said that while search-and-rescue operations on Galveston Island have long concluded, officials are still trying to track down about 50 Galveston residents who have been reported missing.

More than 1 million people evacuated the Texas coast as Ike steamed across the Gulf of Mexico. About 45,000 residents evacuated the island, about 50 miles southeast of Houston.

Many are expected back Wednesday, and Mr. LeBlanc said officials are working on a plan to provide temporary shelters on the mainland for those who find homes they can't live in.

But he stressed the shelters would be available only for a short time.

"It's not there to sustain life on the island," Mr. LeBlanc said. "We cannot possibly provide shelter and homes and setups for you long-term."

City leaders are also looking at setting up a shuttle service to take residents from the temporary shelters on the mainland to their houses during the day so they can make repairs and clean up.

Mr. LeBlanc reminded residents who planned to come back Wednesday that the city has limited medical, power, water and sewer system capabilities, and that life for them will be difficult upon their return. It could be several weeks before services are restored.

Residents of the island's west end, which was severely damaged by Ike, were allowed Monday to begin visiting their homes, but they will not be allowed to live in them because that part of Galveston still has no power or water service.