Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President George W. Bush will travel to Beaumont, Texas, and Lake Charles, Louisiana, today to survey damage to the region hardest hit by Hurricane Rita, as officials worked to clear downed trees and restore power to the coastal towns after floodwaters receded.

The smaller towns on the border between the two states were slammed when Rita came ashore Sept. 24. Many of these rural fishing and agricultural towns along the Gulf of Mexico were wiped out by the storm's 120 mph winds and the storm surge that followed.

Refineries near the region may be closed for a month, heightening the threat of shortages in the oil industry, which hasn't fully recovered from last month's Hurricane Katrina. Both storms have disrupted oil supply along the U.S. Gulf Coast, home to 44 percent of U.S. refining capacity and 30 percent of production. Crude oil fell for a third day in four.

``There's pretty much utter devastation along the coastline down there,'' Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad Allen, who is in charge of the federal Katrina relief operation, said during a briefing yesterday. Katrina killed more than 1,000 people from Louisiana to Florida when it devastated the Gulf Coast last month.

Many of the 2.7 million Texans evacuated before the storm returned home today, the third and last day of a phased return plan for those living along the northern half of the Texan coast, the state's Transportation Department said on its Web site.

Can't Go Home Yet

Residents of Jefferson and Hardin counties, more directly hit by Rita, aren't allowed to head home yet. The counties are closed to motorists, and Polk County -- where many roadways are shut off due to downed trees and power lines -- has been evacuated below the Lake Livingstone Dam, according to a voicemail message from the department.

Power and communication services have been affected in areas with many trees, said William Ayers, a spokesman for the Texas Governor's Emergency Management Division.

Motiva Enterprises LLC said its refinery in Port Arthur had flooding and wind damage. Valero Energy Corp. said its plant there had ``extensive'' damage to its electricity supply and two cooling towers blew over. Citgo Petroleum Corp. said its plant in Lake Charles was without power. Valero provided the only estimate among the seven area refiners about when it may be able to start again -- two to four weeks.

Bush yesterday called on Americans to conserve energy and said he was ready to tap the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve again to stabilize prices and to make up for oil shortages caused by the two hurricanes. He authorized the release of 24.2 million barrels from the 700 million-barrel reserve after Katrina hit.

New Orleans

``These storms showed us we need additional capacity, additional refining capacity for example, to meet the needs of the American people,'' Bush said yesterday in a briefing at the Energy Department in Washington.

In New Orleans, Mayor Ray Nagin said residents of the city's Algiers neighborhood and business owners in the French Quarter, Uptown, the Central Business District and Algiers may return. Nagin's plan to repopulate New Orleans, once home to 500,000, was delayed when patched-up levees gave way under the strain of rains that raised water levels before Rita struck land, filling the 9th Ward and other areas with water.

Nagin advised those returning to the city that they do so at their ``own risk.'' In an advisory posted on the city's Web site, he warned that the New Orleans is under a curfew, traffic lights aren't working, there is little access to medical help, almost no tap water safe to drink, and buildings may not be structurally sound.

Returning to Houston

Traffic near Houston picked up after being at gridlock yesterday. The flow of vehicles on roads including Interstate 45 leading into the fourth-largest U.S. city is now ``heavy,'' having been ``bumper-to-bumper'' yesterday, according to a recorded Texas Transportation Department message. The agency said there are gasoline shortages south of Houston.

About 460,000 Entergy Corp. customers are without power as a result of Rita, including 142,000 north of Houston who have ``rolling outages'' with intermittent electricity, according to the utility's Web site. About 180,000 CenterPoint Energy Inc. customers remain without power.

Approximately 14 deaths have been attributed to Rita. At least three people were killed by tornadoes that spun off Rita in Mississippi and Alabama, according to reports by CNN and Houston's ABC affiliate, KTRK-TV. Six deaths in Texas were blamed on Rita and its aftermath, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Louisiana reported five deaths from Rita, said Lieutenant Lance Cagnolatti, a spokesman for the state emergency preparedness office.

Less Than Katrina

Insurers may have to pay $4 billion to $7 billion in claims, according to Newark, California-based Risk Management Solutions Inc., which uses computer models to gauge insurers' risks. It estimated as much as $60 billion in losses from Katrina.

Pasadena Refining and eight other plants on the waterways that surround Houston and Galveston, the largest U.S. refining region, escaped major damage and are in the process of starting up again. The Houston-area is home to about 12 percent of the nation's fuel-making capacity, compared with 10 percent around Port Arthur and Lake Charles.

Crude oil for November delivery fell 63 cents, or 1 percent, to $65.19 a barrel at 12:07 p.m. London time on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil has dropped 8 percent from an Aug. 30 record of $70.85. Prices have doubled from the end of 2003.