Galveston residents can return Wednesday

Galveston has little or no electricity, natural gas, water or sewer services. There are no medical facilities, there is limited cell phone coverage, and a curfew is in place from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Violators risk a $2,000 fine, the mayor said in a statement.

Galveston took a direct hit from Ike when it barreled ashore September 13 as a Category 2 storm. Despite orders to evacuate, about 20,000 of Galveston's 60,000 residents opted to remain in their homes. Many of those who left went to shelters.

Thomas said residents can begin returning at 6 a.m. (7 a.m. ET) Wednesday. Residents and business owners must show photo identification verifying their address to guards manning checkpoints, she said.

"Very limited water, sewer, natural gas, and electric services have been restored to areas behind the seawall," the mayor said in a statement.

Residents of the heavily damaged west end of the island can assess their damages but must leave the area by 6 p.m., Thomas said.

"Water, sewer, natural gas, and electric services have not been restored to areas west of seawall. Therefore, sanitary living conditions are not available at this time," she said.

The famous Balinese Room, a 1940s-era nightclub where Sinatra used to play, is now no more than a heap of shattered timbers. Cruise ships have been rerouted to the Port of Houston for at least the next four weeks.

At the same time, the island’s prime natural attraction, its sprawling white-sand beaches, survived the storm relatively unscathed, said Peter Davis, chief of the Galveston Beach Patrol.

Complicating matters is the issue of insurance. While businesses and private homeowners in Galveston are required by law to carry flood insurance, many of the hardest-hit residents were renters who carried no policies on their homes. If the uninsured are unable to recover sufficiently from their loss of property, it could delay efforts to get the city back on its feet.