Yes, I know that. But ultimately, it was still for nothing - other than evacuation practice. They wasted time, gas and money running from a storm that never showed up. I'm not saying they shouldn't have fled but, by Friday afternoon, it was obvious they were no longer in danger and, in fact, could have been a destination point for people who didn't want to get into the traffic nightmare headed to Dallas, Austin and San Antonio. If I were still living in the Galveston area and decided on Friday to leave, that is the direction I would have gone.
That would have been very difficult. Even though the mandatory evacuation had been lifted by Friday, there weren't many businesses open. It was really hard to find a restaurant open in Corpus on Thursday or Friday. As of this evening there were still lots of restaurants that weren't open especially big national chains. There were very few gas stations still open on Thursday morning.
Theoretically there was lots of hotel space available, but there weren't any people around to run them. It would have mad more sense to continue on to the Valley and stay in hotels there.