Hurricane Rita’s destructive force may not have been as powerful in Galveston County as originally feared, but it left a mark nonetheless.
From Tiki Island to League City, San Leon to Friendswood, no part of Galveston County was spared a reminder.
About half of the Tiki Island residents who returned to the waterfront community Saturday afternoon found their homes were without power, but outside of a few tossed patio chairs and other small debris whipped around, there was little evidence of a Category 3 hurricane.
Dickinson residents awoke to find tree limbs in roads and leaves spread everywhere. Drivers along state Highway 3 South were greeted by a large tree that had fallen into the lanes of traffic, creating a roadblock that remained in the path of the two southbound lanes at least through 2 p.m.
Along the shores of Galveston Bay in San Leon and Bacliff, the bay shrunk. Areas normally covered in water — even at the lowest of tides — were left uncovered.
The area also was covered in downed tree limbs. Fences were pushed to the ground.
Texas City experienced a rash of power outages, all of which were repaired by mid-afternoon. The city was also covered in downed tree limbs, the covers for the benches of the Lowry Center tennis courts had been blown over and traffic light poles were slightly twisted.
League City and Friendswood reported little physical damage, but both communities are dealing with power outages.
The most severe loss of electricity occurred in League City where almost 70 percent of the city was without power Saturday afternoon.
A Texas-New Mexico Power Company spokeswoman said Rita affected eight power-line switches, cutting off power to about 8,000 customers.
Rita was basically a nonevent in west Galveston County, where most of the storm’s damage was in the form of downed tree limbs.
On the other side of the bay on Galveston’s west end, the destruction that many had feared never materialized.
While the West End communities of Jamaica Beach and Bermuda Beach had a lot of standing water Friday, by Saturday most of the area was high and dry.
There was little evidence of damage to homes or other buildings, sheriff’s deputies reported.
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Return Status For Galveston County Communities
Bayou Vista — Residents told to come back; no curfew.
Clear Lake Shores — Residents told to come back; no curfew.
County —For unincorporated areas of county, dusk-to-dawn curfew lifted.
Dickinson — Dusk-to-dawn curfew still active, residents welcomed back.
Friendswood — Dusk-to-dawn curfew still active, residents welcomed back.
Galveston — All residents allowed to return at 6 a.m. Sunday.
Jamaica Beach — No decision on re-entry made; will follow Galveston’s lead.
Kemah — Residents told to come back; no curfew.
La Marque — Lifted curfew; welcomed residents back.
League City — Lifted curfew, welcomed residents back.
Santa Fe — No decision on re-entry made; Water Control District having problems with the backup generator for sewer plant. Residents asked to halt water and sewer usage until further notice.
Tiki Island — Residents allowed to return but must show proof of residency at checkpoint to enter.
Texas City — Dusk-to-dawn curfew still active, residents welcomed back.
