"These figures are going to change radically, I believe," because information continued to stream in, Snyder said.

The damage estimate included $31 million for schools, $8 million at Kawaihae harbor, $4.89 million to businesses, $650,000 to homes, $800,000 to roads and $750,000 to bridges, Snyder said.

Gov. Linda Lingle said during a news conference that it was premature to provide a statewide damage estimate.

"I think we're going to see damage that we didn't see immediately," she said, noting that some homeowners discovered roof leaks during Monday's rains.

An aftershock early Tuesday widened a crack on a pier at Kawaihae harbor and further damaged a second pier, said Rod Haraga, the state transportation director. The temblor was listed at magnitude 4.0 on the Web site of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory after review by a seismologist.

The concrete pier where container ships off load their goods pulled away from the main port area where those containers are processed. The gap was as wide as 13 inches in some spots, which prompted the U.S. Coast Guard to shut the entire facility. The port is the life line of the west side of the island.

"See those people over there? Everything they had for lunch, everything they had for dinner came through this port," said Elton K. Suganuma, the marine cargo specialist for the port, gesturing at a tourist restaurant. "We're going to need an operation to save this side of the island."

The president's disaster declaration makes federal aid available to the state and local governments and nonprofit organizations for debris removal and other emergency purposes.

A Federal Emergency Management Agency team arrived on the island of Hawaii on Tuesday to begin surveying damage.

Sunday's magnitude-6.7 earthquake was the strongest to hit the islands in more than two decades. No deaths or serious injuries were reported, and the damage appeared to be scattered, allowing most tourists and residents to resume life as normal.

The quake struck near Hawaii's Big Island, a 4,000-plus-square-mile isle with a population of 167,000. Most of its land is undeveloped or agricultural.

By comparison, the magnitude-6.7 earthquake that struck the Los Angeles area in 1994 caused $25 billion in damage.

The damage estimate is key because it could become part of the state's request for federal assistance.

The quake was the second major natural disaster to hit Hawaii this year. In April, heavy rains pounded the islands, contributing to a dam break that killed seven people. The rain also caused a major sewer line to rupture, closing Waikiki beaches.

The state estimated that the flood damage exceeded $50 million. It is spending tens of millions more to replace sewer lines.

Geologists have good locations for about 82 of them, which measure more than 2.0 magnitude, he said. Several occurred this morning, including two that measured 3.9 and 3.5.

Typically, after large earthquakes, he said, the seismicity decreases, with fewer and weaker aftershocks.

"Some scientists are saying we can expect a big one," he said. "There is no reason to believe that, no evidence that that's going to happen."

It is possible, he said, but there is no way to predict it.

The big question now is to determine the mechanism of the earthquake, Poland said.

"If it was on the south flank of Kilauea or associated with the volcano, it would be a much more straightforward answer. But these are strange depths and locations."

He said seismologists are poring over the data to see if they can piece together what might have happened. They're conducting surveys to see if there was any deformation, he said.

Crews are setting up global positioning system instruments on the west side of the island and remeasuring survey markers along the coast to see how far they moved, he said.

"I'm not sure how much we'll learn from that, given the earthquakes are offshore and deep."

The observatory also has requested radar satellite data from foreign space agencies, Poland said.

"I expect we'll see some interesting signals with radar deformation maps," he said, adding that scientists may learn something new about earthquakes.

"This was an unusual kind of event and it happened in a place where we have lots and lots of instrumentation running."

All the data will be available to those who are interested through a university consortium that archives seismic data, he said.

"It may be possible that very interesting insights into these earthquakes will come from strange places."

The Volcano Observatory had no damage from the earthquake, Poland said. "We were in good shape here; we didn't even lose power."

The biggest problem, he said, was that the observatory lost Internet conductivity about noon Sunday after some part of the link broke down.

Officials couldn't read e-mail for 24 hours, "but it didn't compromise us at all," he said. "We had access to all data coming in."

He said only one seismic station was lost; all others continued functioning. "We didn't lose any capability in monitoring volcanoes."

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco on Tuesday declared a state of emergency for 11 parishes, and ordered state emergency management officials to send teams to assess damage. FEMA pledged to send teams later this week, authorities said.

One of the hardest-hit areas was Grayson, a town in north-central Louisiana's Caldwell Parish, which received 17 inches of rain between Sunday evening and Tuesday morning, the National Weather Service said.

In parts of northern Louisiana, the totals were the most in a single storm event since the Tropical Storm Allison in 1989, the agency said.

"The rainfall amounts were exceptional," said meteorologist Nick Fillo. "Outside of a tropical system, it happens every once in a while."

In the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Gatlinburg, two people were injured, including a 6-year-old boy when a tree fell on his family's camper, authorities said. The boy was taken to a hospital Tuesday morning.

The storm came during one of the park's busiest seasons as thousands of visitors travel there to see the brilliant fall foliage.

"We are not evacuating, but we are advising campers to vacate at least through 8 a.m. (Wednesday)," park spokeswoman Nancy Gray said.

Major roads closed for debris removal included a road that links the Tennessee and North Carolina sides of the park.

In Texas, floodwaters from the San Jacinto River seeped into subdivisions in Houston's northern suburbs Tuesday, a day after torrential storms and tornadoes wreaked havoc. An 18-year-old man who drowned when his horse got scared and threw him into the water was among the deaths attributed to the storm.

The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for the West Fork San Jacinto River until late afternoon Thursday, as residents of stilt houses hauled belongings out of their sheds and yards while those in ground level houses moved to motels to avoid the rising water.

"Just because the rain has stopped does not mean the flood dangers have ceased," said Gloria Roemer, spokeswoman for the Harris County Office of Emergency Services. About 50-250 households could be affected, Roemer said.

Flood-related damage was also reported across the northern coast of Crete in the cities of Heraklion and Rethymnon, and on the islands of Astypalaia and Leros, the civil protection authority told AFP.

"With the amount of mud that washed down, it is fortunate that we do not have any victims," Aegean Minister Aristotelis Pavlidis told NET state television.

On Astypalaia, local police rescued an elderly man carried away by rushing water, and local authorities said landslides had clogged some of the island's roads.

"The road network has been damaged, some parts are actually dangerous to drive on," Astypalaia mayor Panormitis Kontaratos told NET state television.

A planned damage-assessing visit by the minister was delayed on Wednesday because of poor weather, which also forced the cancellation of a local flight between the islands of Rhodes and Kastellorizo, NET reported.

The southern Aegean was struck by a storm front on Tuesday with gale-force winds that reached 10 points on the Beaufort scale, disrupting traffic between the Greek islands and forcing many ships to port.

Most scheduled services from the Athens ports of Piraeus and Rafina were cancelled on Wednesday, with an exception made for ships sailing to the Saronic Gulf islands a short distance from the capital, the merchant marine ministry said.

Jakarta has appealed for funds and equipment from neighbors Singapore and Malaysia, which have also suffered from the haze coming primarily from the Indonesian provinces on Sumatra and Borneo islands.

At Sultan Thaha airport in Sumatra's Jambi province, all flights were canceled this week.

"It is not possible (to fly) at the moment. The visibility is terribly limited. The minimum should be 1,800 to 2,000 meters. Now, it is under 100 meters," airport head Basuki Mardiyanto told Reuters.

Mardiyanto is not counting on anything but the onset of heavy rain when the dry season ends to resolve the problem.

Indonesia's six-month rainy season usually starts in October but it may come late this year in many areas or has started with only low intensity in others.

"Rain started a week ago but was localized and with low intensity. Such intensity will only add moisture above hotspots, especially those in peat land. Automatically, this causes more smoke," said Remus Lumban Tobing, head of Jambi's weather office.

Peat fires are hard to put out and can burn for months.

"The pessimistic view is a long wait until there is high intensity of rain. Our prediction is in November," he said by telephone from Jambi, 630 km northwest of Jakarta.

The central government also appeared to lack ideas.

"We need large planes for water bombing which we don't have up until now. The weather is also not helping with the long dry season. With such a situation what can we do," Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar said.

ERRATIC RAINS

In neighboring Musi Banyuasin region, villagers are concerned about fires spreading to residential areas.

"There is a fire 50 meters away from the house. We have tried to put it out but it keeps on burning again and again," said Nurlaila Wati, who lives in a village near plantations.

"We are scared that when the wind blows hard, the fire can jump to the house," the mother of five told Reuters next to a scorched paddy field.

Heavy rain has fallen in West Kalimantan province where the main airport has been closed since Monday, but the pattern of rain has been erratic and the airport is expected to stay shut throughout the week.

"There was thundering rain last Wednesday and more three days ago but conditions have not improved," said provincial spokesman Citra Duani.

Indonesia's neighbors have grown increasingly frustrated over the fires, most of which are deliberately lit by farmers as well as timber and palm oil plantation owners.

Minister Witoelar said last week police had detained more than 300 people and had six court cases against firms. There have in practice been few convictions though.

Environment ministers from Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei failed to reach a detailed attack plan when they gathered last week in Indonesia's Riau province on Sumatra island to discuss the crisis.