Not evacuating for Rita..

[C.Ann]

. If you want to envision that the gridlock is caused by selfish people who cannot bear to leave their big screen tvs behind, that's fine.... but having commuted in Houston traffic I can tell you that gridlock is a fact of life in that city even when it's just one person in one car going to work. .

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Did I say that? No - I didn't.. I relayed what was being reported on the news.. No need to "shoot" the messenger..

 

[Grog]

We made it out OK. Waiting until Friday morning may have been what helped us. For those familiar with the area, we live in the Southbelt area, about a mile from Beltway 8. We took the beltway to Hwy 90, then took Hwy 71 when we reached the little town of Altair. When we reached Columbus 71 dog-legged and we had to get on I-10 for about a mile. This was a very heart wrenching moment. The sides of the freeway were jammed with stalled vehicles with hundreds of people milling around, many wandering with gas cans in hand. The police had done a good job of clearing the way so that thoseof us with gas could get through. The sight was very surrealistic, and there is no way I can fully describe it here and do it justice.

After we got back on Hwy 71 we were able to move at a steady speed of about 60 mph until we reached Austin. We arrived there with about 1/4 of a tank of gas and were able to refuel and continue on to Llano, about an hour west. Whole trip took about 6 hours (normally takes 5, so we really lucked out).

For those of you still stuck out there, or who couldn't get out, we'll be thinking of you. Hopefully it won't be too bad and you'll ride it out OK.

 

[C.Ann]

We made it out OK. Waiting until Friday morning may have been what helped us. For those familiar with the area, we live in the Southbelt area, about a mile from Beltway 8. We took the beltway to Hwy 90, then took Hwy 71 when we reached the little town of Altair. When we reached Columbus 71 dog-legged and we had to get on I-10 for about a mile. This was a very heart wrenching moment. The sides of the freeway were jammed with stalled vehicles with hundreds of people milling around, many wandering with gas cans in hand. The police had done a good job of clearing the way so that thoseof us with gas could get through. The sight was very surrealistic, and there is no way I can fully describe it here and do it justice.

After we got back on Hwy 71 we were able to move at a steady speed of about 60 mph until we reached Austin. We arrived there with about 1/4 of a tank of gas and were able to refuel and continue on to Llano, about an hour west. Whole trip took about 6 hours (normally takes 5, so we really lucked out).

For those of you still stuck out there, or who couldn't get out, we'll be thinking of you. Hopefully it won't be too bad and you'll ride it out OK.

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Phew! SO glad to hear you made it out.. Things sound a little better now (or maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part) so let's hope all those who stayed fair well and that when you return home your place will be fine..

Thanks for letting us know!

 

[stacey_leah]

One thing that I haven't really heard much of in the Texas evacuation is something I heard our officials preaching over and over again last summer. That is...find the safest place that's closest to your home. If more people would do that, the roads would be far less clogged. In last summer's hurricanes,

Unfortunately lots of people couldn't find anywhere close because of all the evacuees from NOLA. I'm from SWLA Lake Charles area. By the time they called an evacuation from our area, people from Texas had already filled hotels. The closest hotel we could find on Wednesday night was in Little Rock. I heard that the closest hotel available as of yesterday was in TN. We are lucky to have family in Dallas, so that's where we are now.

 

[arminnie]

I lived in Houston in 1983 when Alicia, a Category 3 hurricane, was directly headed to Houston and Galveston. It shifted slightly and hit part of Galveston.

I lived on the far west side of Houston in an area that never flooded. Believe me floods are common in the Houston area - you know if you live in a vulnerable area.

I did not evacuate in 1983 nor did anyone that I knew. I was without power for a day, and it rained so hard that some water came over the top of my foundation from a gutter that was emptying in a corner of the house.

I pulled up the carpet and put a board up to route the water back out of the house. When it all dried out I put the carpet back down a few days later. I didn't cost me a penny in repairs but would there would have been significant water damage if I'd been gone.

I think a lot of people freaked in Houston after Katrina and evacuated when they did not need to. That made it very difficult for those that really needed to get out of the low areas.

For most people (good health, etc) being without power for a day or two is an inconvenience not a life threatening event.

I guess I wasn't that worried about the winds as I'd already been through a tornado (1979 I think) in Houston and my house stood up to it.

I would not have evacuated Houston for Rita.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

C.Ann,

Who knows why some didn't leave. You would have thought that after what Katrina did and all those lives lost, people whould have gotten out. However maybe they thought that Katrina was the 100 year storm and figured something like that can't happen twice in a row.

 

[Shadeaux]

lots of people couldn't find anywhere close because of all the evacuees from NOLA. I'm from SWLA Lake Charles area. By the time they called an evacuation from our area, people from Texas had already filled hotels. The closest hotel we could find on Wednesday night was in Little Rock. I heard that the closest hotel available as of yesterday was in TN. We are lucky to have family in Dallas, so that's where we are now.

We were able to spend a night with friend's in Monroe, LA after evacuating the Lake Charles area. Unfortunatly because they already had family staying there because they lost their house in New Orleans, we had to go elsewhere Friday. The closest hotel we could find was in Birmingham, AL. That's where we are now. We have to leave here Tuesday as the hotel is completely booked. I have no idea where we'll go from here. I know we most likely won't be able to return home for awhile as our house is in an area that floods when the rivers start backing up.

Have you heard anything about your area? A friend who has a son living near Central library found out his house is okay. My daughter's friend & his family stayed in Westlake. He called her at 4:30am today to let her know he was okay. He went to Moss Bluff just off Theriot road and found his trailer was okay too. It sounds as if the worst of the storm damage was southwest of the city.

 

[stacey_leah]

I heard our house in Sulphur is ok. It's between hwy 90 & beglis. I have an aunt that went to Toledo Bend and my FIL stayed in Moss Bluff. We still haven't heard from either of them.

I'm hoping to return home on Monday - just depends on when they'll let us in.

 

[rie'smom]

Its real easy to say what you would do in a situation until you are face with that particular situation. Before any hurricane,if you live on the coast-LEAVE. If you live in an area that floods-LEAVE. If you guys remember, it wasn't the wind from Katrina that killed all those people. In Mississippi it was the storm surge and in New Orleans, the levees were breached.

 

[Boo Boo]

I guess the people who didn't evacuate don't look so stupid now, eh? Everyone in hurricane areas knows that evacuating isn't easy; maybe now the rest of the country actually sees this and can get their self-righteous heads out of their butts. When you're in the situation, it seems lose-lose, and as this one (and Charley) proved, you just never know where it's going to hit until it's too late to go very far. (NOLA is a different story -- it's not a big city, and the evac is completely necessary as we've always known -- I yell at my "staying put" friends there every time any hurricane whatsoever comes along). But with the bus full of elderly people plus all the reports I heard of pets dying of heat stroke on the highway, you can bet a lot of people would have been better off staying put. I just hope the powers that be can get this figured out and coordinate a reasonable evacuation -- I've known since I was a kid that gas is scarce before a hurricane -- now I did hear that they increased production beforehand, but why they don't divert beaucoup gas trucks down along the evacuation routes is beyond me... just like it seems like even a 5th grader could figure out that you can air drop food and water after a storm even if you can't get into the area. Not that FL has their stuff together AT ALL, but they did tell us not to even try to get out of the region, just to get out of the flood zones and move inland at least 10 miles. It's just so frustrating that it takes a thousand tragedies before people in charge realize something needs to be done.

 

[chadfromdallas]

I guess the people who didn't evacuate don't look so stupid now, eh?

Sure, they may not look stupid. Its a look of luck that they carry now.

 

[Shadeaux]

I heard our house in Sulphur is ok. It's between hwy 90 & beglis. I have an aunt that went to Toledo Bend and my FIL stayed in Moss Bluff. We still haven't heard from either of them.

I'm hoping to return home on Monday - just depends on when they'll let us in.

We live north of Moss Bluff in Gillis. We have too many trees close to our house; I'm terrified that one of them may have fallen on the roof. We had to leave our 3 indoor cats in the house and our outside cat and dog outside. I'm more worried about the cats in the house. The dog & cat that normally live outside know where to go to get out of storms.
Good luck to you.

 

[Boo Boo]

Sure, they may not look stupid. Its a look of luck that they carry now.

I'm going to just give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you didn't read the rest of my post AND that you haven't been paying attention to any of the news regarding the evacuation.

Galveston and flood/coastal/bayfront areas -- yes, stupid not to leave. The entire Houston metro area -- doing more harm than good.

 

[chadfromdallas]

I'm going to just give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you didn't read the rest of my post AND that you haven't been paying attention to any of the news regarding the evacuation.

Galveston and flood/coastal/bayfront areas -- yes, stupid not to leave. The entire Houston metro area -- doing more harm than good.

And if the hurricane would have hit that area directly?

 

[brerrabbit]

Checking back in. My family and I are safe and at home with no damage from the storm. What an interesting few days. We actually decided to evacuate on Thursday and after making all the arrangements at home, boarding up windows putting all possible projectiles away and packing the vehicles we left at 9:30 Thursday morning. We live 30 miles from the Gulf and five miles east of IH 45. We were going to try and make it to College Station to stay with my son who is at Texas A&M. I have lived in the arear my entire life and know all the back roads so I was going to miss the traffic. We started by heading south to try and cut west across to SH 36 which would take us to our destination. As we traveled south the exit we needed was patroled by officers who would not let us exit. We asked how to get to 36 and they sent us farther sout to catch another road that interscected with 36. In other words the way the evacuation worked was you headed north on the route immediatly our they sent you to the beginning of the route on the coast to get in line. Fortunately it wasn't bad and though it was 45 miles out of the way it went quick. It did however eat up presious gas that would be needed later. Listening to the radio it was obvious that the traffic was terrible and our route on 36 pinchpointed in Brenham and getting through there was taking 6 to eight hours. When I got to SH 59 I said the heck with it and went southwest to Victoria which just the day before had been the bullseye for the storm. My cousin lives there and we thought we would go see here and her daughter as her husband was at work on Thursday till 7:00. Made it there in 3 hours no problem. Visisted with her got a hotel a mile from her house and watched the reports as the track moved east. Friends from home had tried to go east to of all places New Orleans. His Aunt has been with them for several weeks after Katrina and had just returned to Riveridge the Sunday before. She had power, water, and everything was fine there. They left at 5:45 AM Thursday and by 1:00 had only made it 35 miles east of Houston on I-10. They heard the reports and decided to go home. We got up Friday and based on the reports decided to go home ourselves. Left Victoria at 12:00 got home at 3:00. We only lost power from 5:00 AM til 3:00 PM Saturday. No damage and everything was fine.

I wrote all that to try and calm myself a little before my rant that might get me kicked off the board or at the least this thread closed. I discuss/ debate on these boards all the time and think thats fine, I don't agree with WRevy, and TheAnswer much of the time but respect their points of view and know they are good people who just think differently than I do. What I have major problems with are some of the people who want to ask directly contridictory questions just for the sake of stirring up trouble. I will not mince words. Questioner and Conversationist you are one in the same person and my advice to you is SHUT UP. One persona says the evacuation is misirable and officials should be held accountable, then your alter ego comes along and says that the storm was all a media hype! Are you truely that stupid? I have lived on the Gulf Coast my entire life as have other posters on this board. There are risks and there are times when you cut and run well in advance of the storm because no one knows where its going. Cat 5's scare me because they are devastating. And guess what a direct hit from a Cat 3 can kill you just as dead as a cat5. I have friends, family and coworkers in the Golden Triangle and their lives have been devastated. For you to sit in either Washington D.C. or Oregon according to your profile and call a Cat 3 media hype is just plain stupid! I don't know iff your male of female but I tend to think female since you male persona in Oregon questioed if it was okay if their husband went away with his friends for a golf trip. You could be Gay and married to your partner and thats fine, but it just doesn't jive with you female persona that lives in D.C. and is a Weathy Investor who according to your posts works in a very political office environment. Funny I thought Weathy investors didn't work in offices.

Whoever you are use the brain between your ears and think before you post.

I now accept any and all consiquinces of my post but from someone who has just been through five days of dealing physically and emotionally with Rita I just don't care.

 

[C.Ann]

Glad to hear all our fellow DISers that have been able to post are safe and sound..

Hopefully there won't be ANY additional hurricanes that make landfall this year.. The last few weeks have been unreal!

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Sure, they may not look stupid. Its a look of luck that they carry now.

Actually, if potential evacuees studied different weather sites instead of just relying on the over-hyping media, many people would have realized that the need to evacuate may not have been that strong. Two days prior to landfall Rita starting moving more northerly and one could see that dry air was going to build in, but no one heard one word of that unless they read and studied different weather sites.

 

[chadfromdallas]

Actually, if potential evacuees studied different weather sites instead of just relying on the over-hyping media, many people would have realized that the need to evacuate may not have been that strong. Two days prior to landfall Rita starting moving more northerly and one could see that dry air was going to build in, but no one heard one word of that unless they read and studied different weather sites.

And even though it showed a nice movement like that, it still could have easily adjusted course and struck them right on. There have been cases where the projected cone was wrong.

 

[txaggiemomof3]

Actually, if potential evacuees studied different weather sites instead of just relying on the over-hyping media, many people would have realized that the need to evacuate may not have been that strong. Two days prior to landfall Rita starting moving more northerly and one could see that dry air was going to build in, but no one heard one word of that unless they read and studied different weather sites.

It's so easy to look at this situation from hindsight isn't it.

On Wednesday night, all of the forecasts (local news, cable news, internet sites including wunderground.com) were all forecasting that the worst case scenario for Houston was extremely probable. All of the computer models were beginning to merge together towards a Matagorda Bay to Freeport landfall. I am 60 miles inland and we were forecasted to get 120 mph sustained winds here! When I checked wunderground.com late on Wed. night, Rita was a Cat. 5 and still intensifying. She was at 897 mb of pressure making her the third strongest Atlantic hurricane on record. Dr. Jeff Masters (at wunderground.com) was even suggesting that Rita could stall over Texas just like Allison did a few years ago and drop torrential rainfall. Like heck was I going to stay here with my three young children if there was even a possibility of this.

I was up until 2:30 AM on Thursday morning studying every piece of information I could get my hands on. Rita's projected landfall shifted slightly to the east at this time but they were unsure if it was a wobble or a trend. And she had wobbled back and forth within the forecast cone all along. I guess I could have stuck around in Houston waiting for more info. but in order to get my family out of the city before Friday morning (when the first bands were projected to come ashore) we knew we had to leave by Thursday morning. We did not have the luxury of waiting around to see if she would change course.

Thankfully for us, Rita continued to shift easterly. We dodged a BIG bullet! I don't regret leaving at all and would do it again under the same circumstances. I'm a little afraid that by dodging the bullet, many people will not leave next time and that we may not be so lucky again!

 

[chadfromdallas]

I don't regret leaving at all and would do it again under the same circumstances.

Good call.