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Texas Beach Town Reopens

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The Associated Press

Published: September 25, 2008

GALVESTON, Texas - Ten days after Hurricane Ike, this devastated beach town reopened to residents Wednesday with stern warnings about what still lurks on the island - rotting cattle carcasses, snakes and swarms of mosquitoes - and what isn't there: drinking water, reliable electricity, medical care or sewer service.

After spending hours in traffic that backed up for 10 miles, some residents found their homes in ruins.

"I wasn't prepared for this," taxi driver Patricia Davis said as she swatted away mosquitoes and surveyed the remains of her apartment, which had its entrance blocked by collapsed walls, wrecked furniture and sodden clothing.

City officials hoped most of the 45,000 residents who fled before the Sept. 13 storm would stay away until more repairs could be made.

"We didn't promise paradise when you came back here. We've got a lot of work to do. You've got a lot of work to do," City Manager Steve LeBlanc said Wednesday. The city has limited drinking water, few working sewers, limited electricity and minimal medical facilities. Officials extended a disaster declaration 90 days.

What Galveston does have is ripening in the tropical heat: Rotting food in piles of debris where houses once stood, millions of mosquitoes and an abundance of snakes. The carcasses of cattle that drowned during the storm are too badly decomposed to be moved; they'll rot in the fields just outside the city limits.

People were warned not to return without tetanus shots - or rat bait.

The city has opened a shelter for 100 newly homeless residents, and officials hoped to set up more shelters on the mainland, LeBlanc said.

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