Residents returning to crippled Galveston Island

(CNN) -- Residents of Galveston Island, Texas, were returning to their homes Wednesday, almost three weeks after Hurricane Ike devastated Texas' Gulf Coast.

But living conditions will remain rough, city officials stressed at an afternoon news conference. Most residents will not have electricity for another month, City Manager Steve LeBlanc said.

"People need to assess their own personal situation," he said. "If they can tolerate these conditions, then they'll stay."

The return started early, with the only major highway leading onto Galveston Island backed up with cars in the predawn hours. Headlights stretched for miles. Watch cars line a road before dawn »

Residents of Galveston Island's heavily damaged west end were able to return Monday, but only to assess the damage and leave that evening.

City officials have warned residents returning Wednesday not to expect much in the way of services.

Dr. Mark Guidry, head of the Galveston County Health District, urged residents who have "any medical condition that requires frequent care and the possibility of hospitalization" to delay their return until the island's public health and medical infrastructure is in better shape.

And he urged parents to keep their children away until debris fields have been cleared.

Anyone who chooses to return, he said, should carry plenty of hand sanitizer; thick, long-sleeved shirts; long pants; protective gloves and footwear; face masks; mosquito spray; bleach and other cleaning supplies; first-aid kits; charged cell phones to call 911; full tanks of gas and bottled, boiled or treated drinking water.

He predicted that they will find "enormous" traffic congestion because many signals don't work.

The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston has "only the most rudimentary of medical resources," warned Dr. Joan Richardson, the institution's emergency preparedness officer.

"We have no capability of hospitalizing anyone as we have no hospital beds that are open," she said. Nor can workers perform surgery or deliver babies, she said.

Anyone requiring anything beyond basic first aid will be stabilized "as best we can" and evacuated by air, she said.

LeBlanc urged anyone returning home to refrain from turning on gas or electricity before checking for leaks or short circuits.

He said special care should be taken in houses flooded by more than 10 or 12 inches of water, the height of wall plugs.

"You don't want to turn on the electricity, because there may be corrosion in those circuits, and it may start a fire, and we have limited fire protection," he said.

Any gas meter or regulator that was submerged must be replaced, he said. Regulators, which reduce pressure from gas lines entering the house, may not work after being submerged, resulting in the flow of too much gas, LeBlanc said.

"If that's the case, and there was a leak, you could have a serious fire and an explosion."

At least 40 fires have been reported, many of them because of electrical problems, he said.

About 400 to 500 law enforcement officials are on the island to maintain order and to enforce the 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, LeBlanc said.

"We will have order, and we will maintain order on this island," he said.

Though the search-and-rescue effort is complete, about 50 residents remain missing, he said. Watch a resident who rode out the storm »

Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas was in Washington this week to ask a Senate ad hoc committee on disaster recovery for about $2 billion in federal aid, LeBlanc said.

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 58,000 residents stayed in their homes. Many of those who left went to shelters.

All About Hurricane Ike • Galveston • Natural Disasters