With remnants of Hurricane Harvey still pounding Texas, US lawmakers have begun contemplating the massive rebuilding costs, leaving some Republicans in a tricky spot after they opposed federal aid when a storm devastated eastern states in 2012.

Record rainfall has left vast swaths of coastal Texas and the country's fourth-largest city of Houston underwater.

Flooding has damaged or destroyed thousands of homes, crippled infrastructure, washed away businesses and left the economic future of the region under a cloud.

Just how heavy a financial toll the storm will take on the southern US economy was unclear Tuesday, as the focus remained on rescue operations, many of them being carried out in the hard-hit Houston area.

But the storm, which on Tuesday was tilting toward neighboring Louisiana, has the potential to be one of the costliest natural disasters in US history, and lawmakers have already broached the subject of recovery funding.

"I believe we need to put an aid package together for $150 billion" for emergency relief and recovery from Harvey, House Democrat Sheila Jackson-Lee, whose Houston district remained largely underwater, told CNN.

That staggering amount is 2.5 times the funding approved by Congress and allocated by the federal government following superstorm Sandy, which caused widespread devastation in eastern states including New York, New Jersey and Maryland when it struck in October 2012.

Despite the clear need for federal government intervention after that storm, 179 Republican lawmakers -- including 23 of Texas's 24 House members -- opposed the Sandy Relief Act.

The snub appalled New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who at the time savaged his fellow Republicans as "absolutely disgraceful."

Their votes are suddenly back in the spotlight, as lawmakers still on their summer recess sniped across social media.

Republican Congressman Peter King of New York called out Senator Ted Cruz of Texas by name Monday in a stinging rebuke, saying he would vote for post-Harvey aid despite fellow Republicans opposing Sandy relief.

"NY wont abandon Texas," King tweeted. "1 bad turn doesnt deserve another."

A New Jersey Democrat offered similar thoughts.

"Despite my TX colleagues refusal to support aid in #SouthJersey time of need, I will support emergency disaster $$ for those impacted," Congressman Frank LoBiondo said Monday on Twitter.

- Trump demands 'rapid action' -

Cruz, a Tea Party hero and defender of fiscal austerity, insisted he opposed the Sandy bill because it contained excessive "pork" -- targeted government spending that benefits a lawmaker's constituents -- unrelated to storm recovery.

"Of course, the federal government has a critical role in disaster relief," Cruz said on CNN.

"But you should not have members of Congress that are exploiting disasters to fund their pet projects, and so there will be time for all of those debates in Washington."

One estimate, by Enki Research, already puts the Harvey damage at $42 billion. But with the storm forecast to churn along the Gulf coast for at least two more days, that estimate could surge.

President Donald Trump, who was visiting storm-ravaged Texas Tuesday, sought to squash whatever bickering might emerge over rebuilding costs, as he predicted a "bipartisan" effort despite intense feuding among Republicans and Democrats in recent months.

"You're going to see very rapid action from Congress -- certainly from the president," Trump said Monday.

"We're going to get your funding," he added, addressing Texans.

But the Harvey recovery effort will be added to the already long list of priorities Congress must address when it returns to Washington next week.

That includes funding the government in fiscal year 2018, which begins October 1.

Trump has signaled he is prepared for a fight over the funding should it not include seed money for the wall that he wants built on the US border with Mexico.

That fight could force the government into a potentially crippling shutdown, further complicating recovery and emergency efforts in states affected by Harvey.

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