From the Chron:

“Those who stay here and don’t voluntarily evacuate, we are asking to stay at home,” Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said. “We don’t want to evacuate the island, that’s the last thing we would want to do.”

Officials had been criticized for ordering a mandatory evacuation when Hurricane Rita sideswiped Galveston in 2005 and were determined not to order an evacuation this year unless it was necessary.

This is seriously worrying me. Because of the cluster-fuck that Rita’s evac turned into, too many officials may be gun shy. Add to that, Ike has an unusually low wind speed for such a powerful hurricane, and we could be setting up for a hell of a sucker punch, if Ike suddenly tightens up and makes it to the Cat 4 strength that its barometric pressure indicates.