Galveston residents make trek back, only to be turned away

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — Residents trying to get back to this hurricane-ravaged city Wednesday spent hours fuming in gridlocked traffic, only to be turned away at the bridge by officials worried that the crippled island can’t accommodate that many people.

Traffic backed up for 20 miles along Interstate 45, the one route onto Galveston Island, with residents jockeying for position with utility workers, repair crews and police trying to begin repairs to the city wrecked by Hurricane Ike five days ago.

The city announced Tuesday that people could briefly return under a new “look and leave” plan, causing evacuees all over the state to pack up and head for the coast.

Hours later, it abruptly halted the policy, but some in the long line Wednesday angrily complained they’d never heard the policy was rescinded.

“I don’t understand this,” Carlos Azucena said, motioning toward repair workers after waiting in line three hours before he was rejected in his third try to go home. “You see those other people. They don’t even live here; I live in Galveston.”

Ike’s death toll in the U.S. hit 50 Wednesday and appeared to level off in Texas, where search teams pulled out of Galveston having searched the entire island for survivors.

The task force had checked on almost 6,000 people and performed more than 3,500 rescues since Friday. Seventeen people have died in the state.