Residents hit by Ike undeterred by rats and sewage

RATS, raw sewage and a no-excuses curfew await exiled residents who try to return to storm-wrecked Galveston Island when it reopens next week, officials have said.

A week after Hurricane Ike came thundering ashore, the grim predictions didn’t seem to scare some of the 45,000 evacuated islanders from trying to get home, even though most of the island won’t open back up until Wednesday.

Another miles-long traffic jam clogged the only highway into the city over the weekend. Some ignored orders to turn around, while others resorted to deception to sneak past police guarding a roadblock.