A catastrophe modeling firm said the slow progress fixing a hugebacklog of hurricane damaged homes in Florida is boosting labor andmaterial costs and will raise the cost of repairing future stormdamage.

Researchers at Risk Management Solutions (RMS), Newark, Calif.said the elevated price of labor and materials that resulted fromlast year's hurricanes is expected to persist through this year'shurricane season that begins today.

Their analysis of the insurance claims data from the 2004 stormsshows that as of last month, repair costs in the southeast U.S.remained 20 to 40 percent above the national average.

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