GALVESTON – I know many of us were anticipating this news.
Galveston Island is BACK OPEN following Hurricane Beryl, which wreaked havoc across the Houston area—particularly impacting the coast.
During the storm and afterward, officials and elected leaders said that the Island was closed to visitors and tourists until they were able to survey, assess, and clean up the damage brought by the storm.
Welp, that’s all over now! KPRC 2′s Moriah Ballard went to the Island to check in on some of our FAVORITE places with some of our favorite people.
First, Moriah stopped by the San Luis Convention Center, where KPRC 2 anchor Owen Conflenti was live during the storm on July 8.
We spoke with the Vice President of Hospitality Paul Shultz, who said the Landry’s San Luis Resort and Galveston Island Convention Center are back open for business and ready to host tourists again or locals who are looking for a quick, fun staycation just minutes outside of Houston.
“We had mild damage. Most of it was cosmetic. I would say, trees, you know. Some of our hotels did have a little bit of water penetration, but that’s all been corrected, and we’re open, and taking care of business,” said Shultz.
Next up, we hung out on Pleasure Pier with our friend Mackenzie Finklea from Visit Galveston and spoke about tourism and its importance to this beach community.
“Tourism is very important to our local economy. It supports one out of every three jobs in Galveston. So that’s one out of every three residents that relies on your business coming and eating at our restaurants and shopping at our boutiques and we’re ready and excited to have everyone back,” Finklea said.
Our last stop for the post-hurricane Galveston tour was at a small business where we checked in with owner, Chasity Gibson, about how she and her staff prepare ahead of a weather event.
Her business, Mom’s Farm to Table, is part of a community of small businesses that help each other out but she says everything came to a halt when Beryl hit.
“So first, you panic, and you spiral,” Gibson said jokingly. “But then you think about the people. ‘Are my people going to be safe?’ You know, you unplug, you prep everything you can, and board up. Then you just ask yourself, ‘Am I going to stay or am I going to go?’ Then you come and deal with the aftermath of the storm with the rest of the community.”
If you head out to the Island this summer, make sure you submit your pictures at Click2Pins.com.