The last of the Hurricane Ike evacuees left the Austin Convention Center Thursday for Galveston. Sixteen buses carrying 150 evacuees left for the coast before 11 a.m.

Another eight buses also left carrying City of Galveston employees who were in town to help while the evacuees were sheltered.

Some of the evacuees leaving Thursday had spent a full two weeks in Austin.

The Austin Convention Center was used for some time as a special needs shelter for evacuees needing medical attention. All of those individuals have been placed in special needs shelters in San Antonio or placed in area nursing homes, hotels or hospitals.

Shelter coordinators say everyone seemed anxious to get home.

"Mixed emotions," said Rudy Garza, assistant Austin city manager. "Everyone's happy to go home but unsure of what they'll find there. We hope for the best for them. Everyone keep them in their prayers."

There are some questions about the timing of Thursday's departure. A capital improvement project is scheduled to get underway at the Austin Convention Center Friday, and the Austin City Limits Music Festival begins. Some are asking if the evacuees were forced to leave because the space is needed.

Garza says that's not the case and that everyone leaving Thursday has a place to go, whether it be their home, a hotel or another evacuation shelter on the coast.

He added that this is simply the end of the agreement the City of Austin had with the City of Galveston to house evacuees during hurricanes.