Thousands of islanders and other county residents have flocked to areas within La Marque and Texas City in search of food, gas and, ultimately, anywhere that still had power this week, officials said.
Hotels in La Marque and Texas City were full Thursday as thousands sought reprieve from rising temperatures and more than 72,000 power outages in Hurricane Beryl’s path, officials said. In Galveston, thousands of residents were without power island-wide, and Dickinson still had more than 4,000 homes without power, officials said.
At this point, city officials are unable to quantify how many people are coming into the cities or where they are coming from. Officials can, however, confirm an influx of people have asked if businesses such as gas stations and restaurants were open, Texas City spokeswoman Jennifer Laird said.
“We are fortunate that the answer to both of those is yes,” Laird said about gas stations and restaurants. “From an economic standpoint, we always welcome people to come visit our city, and that’s even more true now, in the wake of Hurricane Beryl, when it means that our community and our businesses are helping families get the essential items they need.”
While it is too early to determine if there has been any increase in sales tax, La Marque also has experienced an influx of visitors following the hurricane, Deputy City Manager J.B. Pritchett said.
“All the hotels are full,” Pritchett said. “ Our hotels actually have a surcharge because they are in such high demand.”
La Marque did suffer power loss, but not as badly as neighboring cities, Pritchett said.
In the city, all fueling stations and restaurants are powered up, he said.
“I have seen a good number of an influx of people when it comes to restaurants or fueling stations and things like that,” Pritchett said. “We will continue to push our hardest, hurricane or not, to accommodate people either from the island or from Dickinson.”
Texas City restaurants also have been full during open hours and visitors have been enjoying city amenities such as the Nessler Family Aquatics Center, 1700 Fifth Ave. and the Moore Memorial Public Library, 1701 Ninth Ave., Laird said.
“On Wednesday, for example, the library saw an 88 percent increase in Wi-Fi usage,” Laird said.
City officials and residents have not taken power restoration for granted.
Businesses and organizations in Texas City have come together to offer resources to those without power.
Coffee Connection, 9300 Emmett F. Lowry Expressway, sustained damage from the storm. And despite taking a hit, coffee shop owners opened and used the space as a cooling center and served free coffee, Laird said.
“Local churches have offered food and clothing to those affected by the storm,” Laird said. “An elementary student named Sadie has been serving Gatorade, cookies and fruit to linemen, emergency responders and city crews.”
La Marque has a cooling station that is open 24 hours a day, as thousands of residents were without power following Hurricane Beryl, and will remain open until further notice, officials said.
“Through the hurricane, we’ve had people here and we have run that 24 hours a day, and it is still open,” Pritchett said. “Our directive is that we are going to man this until power comes back on for our people.”
La Marque’s cooling station is operating from the Community Room, 1109-B Bayou Road, and provides charging stations, water, light snacks and limited cots for naps.
B. Scott McLendon contributed to this report.
(1) comment
Sorry but when 51% of residents in La Marque still don’t have power as of Thursday evening, we really don’t care for “visitors” coming into town and filling up hotel rooms that locals need right now.
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Internet forum rules ...
Real names required. No pseudonyms or partial names allowed. Stand behind what you post.
Keep it clean. Don't use obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don’t knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be brief. Keep posts to 250 words or less.
Edit yourself. No more than three posts per thread and stay on topic. Do not link to sites outside galvnews.com.
Be aware. All posts are property of The Daily News and may be republished in print.
Be proactive. Use the "Report" link on each comment to let us know of rule violations.