GALVESTON -- Residents of Galveston who found their homes uninhabitable when they returned this week after fleeing Hurricane Ike now have another shelter to stay in -- tents set up at an old elementary school, city officials said Thursday.
One shelter was opened at a community center Wednesday, the day residents were allowed to return to the island and inspect their homes, but it had room for only about 100 people and quickly filled up.
Galveston City Manager Steve LeBlanc said the city had teamed up with the American Red Cross to provide temporary shelter for displaced residents in tents on the grounds of an elementary school no longer in use.
The new shelter will provide housing for as many as 500 people and will offer showers, bathrooms and meals.
"We've been working furiously to get some shelters," LeBlanc said. "We are doing the best that we can. We're telling those folks to be patient."
The city and school district are also working on setting up shelters at other schools when they are cleaned up. LeBlanc said officials had been working to open shelters off the island, in nearby Texas City, but they had not been able to find locations.
About 45,000 residents fled before the Sept. 13 storm. Most returned to the island Wednesday, and LeBlanc estimated that 40,000 to 50,000 people were back in Galveston, about 50 miles southeast of Houston. The island city's total population is about 57,000.
Ike battered Galveston with 110-mph winds and a 12-foot storm surge and has been blamed for at least 62 deaths, including 27 in Texas. More than 1 million people evacuated the Texas coast.
Though Galveston officials worked to open more shelters, LeBlanc advised residents to look for hotel rooms or apartments on the island.
"We are working diligently to provide a shelter. It's been difficult," he said.
In addition to a shortage of shelters, Galveston has limited drinking water, few working sewers, limited electricity and minimal medical facilities. Schools remain closed.
But Dyann Polzin, with the Galveston school district, announced Thursday that officials planned to reopen seven of the district's 12 schools by Oct. 6.
Polzin said some schools would be closed for several months because they were heavily damaged by Ike.
On Thursday, CenterPoint Energy Inc. reported that 78 percent of its 2.26 million customers in Southeast Texas now had electricity in the wake of Ike and that most customers would have power restored by Sunday.
Entergy Texas reported that it had completed its restoration efforts and that 385,300 customers affected by Ike once again had power. About 7,300 customers, many on the Bolivar Peninsula, won't get power back until significant reconstruction work is done.
The Texas Public Utility Commission on Wednesday approved an emergency order banning electric service disconnections until Oct. 10 for those affected by Ike.
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