Third of Galveston County still without power, Judge Mark Henry says
GALVESTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Damage assessment efforts are underway in the aftermath of Hurricane Nicholas. So far, Galveston County officials believe 33% of the county's residents are without electricity.
Parts of the historic Strand District in Galveston were underwater overnight into Tuesday morning due to Hurricane Nicholas. County Judge Mark Henry assured residents that crews from all three providers were working to restore power, with hopes of being done by the end of the day.
The storm made landfall as a Category 1 near Sargent Beach, Texas, at about 12:30 a.m. before being downgraded to a tropical storm with 70 mph winds.
ABC13's Jeff Ehling and his photographer drove around the area and spotted flooding on 26th, and on the Strand at Rosenberg.
At last check, none of the floodwater appeared to make it into any businesses, many of which had sandbags.
Despite the high water, at least one man still showed up for work.
Roderick Baker is part of the sanitation crew for the City of Galveston, but the water was too deep for even the crew's truck to make it.
"Everything is flooded out, this area that I work in every morning. I'll take some pictures for my superintendent," Baker laughed. "It floods really bad every time we get a hurricane or tropical storm."
On Monday night, Galveston's mayor Craig Brown urged residents in low-lying areas to move to a more elevated area.
As of around 11 a.m. Tuesday, the county was only receiving a "light drizzle of rain," according to Henry.
Just before midnight Monday, ferry services between Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula were suspended due to worsening weather conditions. By 8:20 a.m. Tuesday, ferry service had resumed. Galveston Ferry said on Twitter that it would start by operating one boat and then bring additional boats in service.
Henry also announced that Highway 87 had also been cleared of debris.
He urged residents who experienced any damage to report it by filling out an assessment form on the Galveston County Office of Emergency Management website.
"This is so we can get a good handle on the amount of storm damage that was caused. It will help with various state and federal reimbursements, and aid programs," said Henry.
Despite the storm damage, Henry was thankful there were no reports of injuries.
"We were prepared as we always are for anything," he said. "I don't think we did a single high-water rescue, but the wind became more an issue than we initially believed it would be."
For updates from Galveston throughout the storm, follow Jeff Ehling on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
