Yesterday, city officials had said that the mandatory evacuation was only for the west end of the island, but that has now changed.
There are two important numbers officials want you to know. First, there's the Galveston Emergency Operations center at 409-765-3710. And people who have special needs and need assistance evacuating can call 409-797-372
Hurricane Ike has been a difficult storm to track because of the number of shifts in the models in the last 72 hours. Given the current track, officials in Galveston are preparing for the possibility of tropical storm force winds beginning sometime Friday morning as well as high tides in the 4-6 foot range starting as early as Thursday night.
The Galveston-Bolivar Ferry is expected to cease operations at 11pm Thursday. The Galveston Causeway will not be closed at any time, but drivers are advised to avoid the causeway during times of high winds.