The stripes on the streets of Port Arthur were a welcome sign Friday, a sign the floodwaters that crippled the city days before continue to recede.

“We had about three-fourths of our whole city was underwater at one point,” Port Arthur Mayor Derrick Freeman said Friday afternoon. “And right now we can start to see some dry land in the City of Port Arthur, and we’re excited about that.

“You’re starting to see stripes on the roads.”

Crews continued to evacuate citizens in shelters who wanted to relocate to Dallas. Others stayed behind, waiting out the water to return to what’s left of their houses after Tropical Storm Harvey dumped feet of water on the area.

In addition to floodwater that remains in many areas, power remained out for approximately 3,300 Entergy customers. For safety, Freeman said, the city’s curfew is still in effect from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Freeman said the company had dispatched approximately 500 utility trucks to the region to restore electrical power. The mayor said crews were working quickly, having cut the number of citizens without power approximately in half since earlier in the week.

Friday afternoon, approximately 3,000 citizens were still in shelters, Freeman said.

“As most people in our city have noticed, the water is receding,” he said, after touring the area Friday morning by helicopter. “We’ve still got some water our there. We’re going to bounce back from this travesty here in Port Arthur.

The mayor said the city had emergency contracts with numerous companies that will soon come into the city and help clean up debris, collect garbage and assess the state of city buildings. That’s important since the majority, if not all, of the city’s fleet of vehicles is flooded.

“Everything out at the operation center is under water,” the mayor said.

To complicate matters, a fire broke out at the center Friday, forcing firefighters to battle the blaze in three feet of water.

Freeman said the city has opened up a donation center to help receive and process donations to the city and its citizens. The center is at 200 Houston Ave.

“We have some people who are still hurting in Port Arthur,” the mayor said. “Your contributions would be greatly appreciated.”

The mayor said he and the citizens of Port Arthur are deeply appreciative to the many volunteers and for the many donations the city has received so far.

“We’ve had volunteers from all over the country, literally all over the country,” he said. “We’d like to thank everyone that has made it our way. We’d like to thank everyone that has sent us some things our way and we’d like to thank anyone that has even lifted us up in prayer. We’ve needed it.”

Freeman said the road ahead would be tough and require much effort.

“It’s going to take a community for us to get back,” he said. “I want to encourage you, if you want to come help, get some elbow grease, you want to roll up your sleeves, we have got room for you.”

The cooperation of citizens and volunteers has been impressive, the mayor said.

“It’s amazing to see the community come together like this. I’m speechless; I am literally speechless,” he said. “I’ve just been amazed the way people got out and sacrificed. The way people came down without any call, the way people came down without any reward on the other end, just to come out and be a blessing to some folks; it’s unspeakable.