DAYTON, Ohio -- The Ohio Insurance Institute has released early estimates of the damage the Sept. 14 wind storm caused in the Buckeye state.

Many areas, including communities across the Miami Valley, are still cleaning up from the storm.

The insurance industry said damage caused by the storm could hit $500 million or higher.

That would make it one of the state’s costliest disasters.

Ohio Insurance Institute spokeswoman Mary Bonelli said $500 million is a preliminary figure and it could go even higher when the group issues its official estimates this week.

Bonelli said in inflation-adjusted dollars the cost of the storm could rival the cost of the 1974 tornado that devastated Xenia.

Bonelli said losses are high because of the power outages, the hurricane-force winds and the widespread nature of the storm.

Gov. Ted Strickland has asked the federal government for $7 million to help recovery efforts in Ohio.

In a letter to President George W. Bush, Strickland said the request was based on preliminary estimates of the cost of clean-up.