HOUSTON (AP) -- Governor Rick Perry is forming a commission to oversee coastal rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Ike.

The agency also would develop recommendations for responding to future storms.

Perry's also expected to ask the Texas Department of Transportation to help finish removing tons of debris left behind when Ike struck the Southeast Texas coast two months ago.

The governor's office said preliminary estimates from Ike and hurricanes Gustav and Dolly is at $29.4 billion and likely to grow.

Those storms struck the Texas Gulf Coast within a period of two months this summer.

Perry has said Texas wants the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cover all of the debris removal costs for the next 18 months or risk bankrupting the state's hard-hit coastal communities.

But FEMA officials says no decision has been made on whether to extend the full coverage, which expired late last month. And they don't know when to expect an answer.

Without full coverage, FEMA pays 75 percent of the state's estimated $2 billion cleanup and local governments pay 25 percent.

(Copyright ©2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)