GALVESTON, Texas — Galveston Island spent most of Wednesday morning under water. Many businesses closed up early on the Strand to protect their stores from flooding.
The island was practically paralyzed from 48 hours of rain from Tropical Storm Imelda, clogging not only the side streets, but also the main roads.
Joey Quiroga spent the morning outside his restaurant watching drivers pass through the flood water.
“I think it’s incredible that it’s flooded this much so fast. Usually it will drain off pretty good, but the rain just came in and it didn’t stop--it just kept on pouring and pouring and pouring. We came outside right at closing time, and I saw this and was like here we go again," Quiroga said.
Downtown, the entire Strand, one of Galveston’s biggest tourist attractions, was, for the most part, shut down.
“It’s just about up to your knees at different places," Debbie Northrop said.
But some tourists, like Northrop from South Dakota, still stuck around.
“We’re just here for the fun of it. We’re going out venturing anyway," Northrop said.
Chad Ellis also making the best of it.
"It's gone down about five inches in four beers," he joked.
Ellis' visit is two-fold: fun with some friends and showing love for the local business.
“Very few of them are open, so we’re coming down here to try to take care of the ones that are," Ellis said. “It’s very quiet, we don’t have the normal crowd down here. A few looky-lous and some city employees and that’s about it.”
Most of The Strand had drained by 5 p.m. Wednesday. People there are just hoping that was the worst of it.
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