GALVESTON, Texas — Rats, raw sewage and a no-excuses curfew await residents who try to return to storm-wrecked Galveston Island when it reopens this week, officials warned Saturday, a week after Hurricane Ike came thundering ashore.
Ugly as the city’s last week and immediate future might be, the grim predictions didn’t scare some of the 45,000 evacuated islanders from trying to get home, even though most of the island won’t open back up until Wednesday.
Another miles-long traffic jam clogged the only highway into the city Saturday. Some ignored orders to turn around, while others resorted to deception to sneak past police guarding a roadblock.
David Culpepper met his brother Joe in Atlanta, put a phony magnetic sign on a truck to masquerade as contractors and drove down to help a third brother, Michael, who owns an antiques shop on Galveston.
Guards at the checkpoint waved Joe and David Culpepper in.
“Not getting on this island was not an option,” David Culpepper said. “We have a brother in need.”
It could be weeks or more before basic services are restored in all areas. Authorities cautioned that residents could find drastically different conditions depending on how their property fared.
“We have people whose homes are totally and completely destroyed, all the way to the other end of the spectrum, to where your home is perfectly fine,” said City Manager Steve Le Blanc.
Fuel and other essentials remained scarce. Some businesses were reopening, cellphone service was improving, and electricity was coming back on.
But the strides are small, and island leaders emphasized that Galveston remained dangerous. Police will indefinitely enforce a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew once the island reopens, and parents were warned their children could be exposed to infections from storm debris and other hazards.
Planes continued spraying the island to control mosquitoes, and officials urged returnees to wear masks to protect from mold and to properly dispose of spoiled food to stave off vermin.
Hundreds of stop signs were being trucked in to replace traffic lights, nearly all of which were blown away, and 150 state troopers were on their way to help police the city.
State Rep. Craig Eiland called the preparations essential for controlling the “chaos and congestion” expected as residents come home.
