HOUSTON—In Houston, people keep talking about the storm, but it’s tough to tell which storm people are talking about.

AP

There was the storm called Ike that came from the Gulf of Mexico and then there’s the financial storm now blowing out of Washington and Wall Street.

There is one major difference.

You see, with Ike you can see the damage, assess it, and then fix it.

A financial hurricane is not that easy to see.

“There’s an element of paranoia and fear like I’ve not ever seen,” said Samuel Golden who is a consultant with Alvarez & Marshal.

Golden leads a team of consultants who are cleaning up some of the biggest financial messes in the nation.

“It’s a crisis, or a perfect storm,” said Golden.

Their newest client is Lehman Brothers which is experiencing the biggest bankruptcy ever.

“I look back and I thought I’d seen the worst of the worst in the period of the 80s and early 90s. This in many respects is worse than what transpired then,” said Golden.

He knows all about what happened when banks went bust in the Southwest 20 years ago.

Golden was a federal regulator who testified against bank executives on trial for fraud then, now he’s withholding who’s to blame for this latest debacle.

“I think there’s enough blame to go around,” said Golden.

“I think the impact will impact consumers as well as businesses,” he says.

From car and home loans to business loans, Golden sees money staying tight despite Congress’ big bailout.

“But there’s not going to be any kind of stimulus or the passing of a bill that’s going to instantly change and revitalize our economy overnight,” said Golden.

“We’re gonna live with this in my opinion for quite some time,” he said.

But compared to many other cities, Golden says Houston and its banks could survive better than most.

He says that the housing market was not as overheated as elsewhere because there were fewer of those shaky sub-prime loans.

What’s more, experts say, the local oil industry is thriving.

Still, Golden says banks here will have loses.

“But overall, the industry here is far healthier than in some other parts of the country. That’s a blessing because the last time we led the country in the decline in the condition in the financial industry,” said Golden.

He said things were worse then in Houston and Texas.

Golden says he doubts we’ll see a depression, but the downturn could still be serious.