Almost two months after Tropical Storm Harvey flooded Port Arthur, there’s still no room at the inn.

Or at the hotels. Or the motels. Or anywhere else.

“Basically we’re at 100 percent (capacity),” Tammy Kotzur, the executive director of the Port Arthur Convention and Visitors Bureau said.

Displaced Port Arthur residents as well as the usual temporary industrial workers and out of town contractors and emergency aid workers are using the rooms.

The shortage of local lodging was made worse because the flood crippled almost every hotel in Port Arthur.

“There were 420 rooms vacant because of damage,” Kotzur said.

The shortage of rooms is particularly painful for residents who are still displaced and living in areas away from Port Arthur. However, Kotzur said she hopes they do not become discouraged.
“I would say every hotel is working quickly to get their damaged rooms back and also every hotel situation changes daily with check outs and check ins, so if someone is looking for rooms, check with the different hotels. I don’t want people to get discouraged and think, ‘oh, my God, I’m never going to get a hotel space.’”

She said only two hotels, the Holiday Inn Express and the Town Place, did not have significant damage from the flood. In addition, she said she has heard the Day’s Inn has completed its first floor repairs, though a spokesperson for the hotel did not confirm this by deadline.

But other than those three hotels, every other first floor in Port Arthur is still gutted.

Besides the hotels, nearly all the homes listed on the short-term home rental sites AirBNB and HomeAway are also unavailable.

Meanwhile, the Pleasure Island Bridge Half Marathon is Nov. 4, an annual run that typically brings visitors to the city. However, Kotzur said she’s not worried about that.

“Were not concerned about tourists, we’re concerned about citizens and those who need to be here,” she said.