Not evacuating for Rita..

[Lisa loves Pooh]

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.

Some do not have the luxury of waiting 2 days to see if their own weather guessing works in their favor.

We are slaves to the weather guessers on TV. I don't have a background in meteorology. I leave when I'm told. If it misses...bummer that it was an evac for nothing, but I wouldn't change what I did at all.

IF Katrina wobbled significantly enough--it would have made a big difference in New Orleans. If people waited to guess on their own what to do--things would have been worse.

You're pretty good at the advice you give--but we can only go on the collective of all information we have. Some do not have the luxury of the internet...or minimal education to make educational decisions based on all the info available. They watch the news and go from there. The news does not make the preparation decisions--the state does. What may be hype for one hurricane---is life saving for another. It isn't until after it hits, do we know which it was.

This could have as easily been a big huge hit on Houston.

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

Some do not have the luxury of waiting 2 days to see if their own weather guessing works in their favor.

We are slaves to the weather guessers on TV. I don't have a background in meteorology. I leave when I'm told. If it misses...bummer that it was an evac for nothing, but I wouldn't change what I did at all.

IF Katrina wobbled significantly enough--it would have made a big difference in New Orleans. If people waited to guess on their own what to do--things would have been worse.

You're pretty good at the advice you give--but we can only go on the collective of all information we have. Some do not have the luxury of the internet...or minimal education to make educational decisions based on all the info available. They watch the news and go from there. The news does not make the preparation decisions--the state does. What may be hype for one hurricane---is life saving for another. It isn't until after it hits, do we know which it was.

This could have as easily been a big huge hit on Houston.

Well said. I love all this Monday morning quarterbacking. Now, apparently, we non-meteorologists can accurately predict what hurricanes do? I see. Any meteorologist worth his salt will tell you a hurricane is BY NATURE unpredictable.

How quickly people forget Hurricane Charley which turned at the last second and took everyone by surprise. Then weather predictors were raked over the coals. Or Camille, which gained power and speed in a sudden burst that caught everyone off guard. I guess the only way people can be happy now is if a Cat 5 had smacked Houston dead on so everyone would not have evacuated for nothing.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

We are slaves to the weather guessers on TV. I don't have a background in meteorology. I leave when I'm told. If it misses...bummer that it was an evac for nothing, but I wouldn't change what I did at all.

I think the media needs to do a better job. Be more informative rather than hype driven.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Well said. I love all this Monday morning quarterbacking. Now, apparently, we non-meteorologists can accurately predict what hurricanes do? I see. Any meteorologist worth his salt will tell you a hurricane is BY NATURE unpredictable.

How quickly people forget Hurricane Charley which turned at the last second and took everyone by surprise. Then weather predictors were raked over the coals. Or Camille, which gained power and speed in a sudden burst that caught everyone off guard. I guess the only way people can be happy now is if a Cat 5 had smacked Houston dead on so everyone would not have evacuated for nothing.

Of course Hurricanes are unpredictable. But I think in this case we saw a lot of people who evacuated who didn't need to even based on what the NHC and officials were saying. People got scared because of the hype.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I think the media needs to do a better job. Be more informative rather than hype driven.

This is why my mom and I call them weather guessers.

About as reliable as the forecast posted 2 days prior in the newspaper.


Miss Jasmine may or may not be equating this to Floyd....many many many people in Florida were evacuated unnecessarily....like way many. Not as many as Houston--but they have refined the process so that we don't do that again. However, they have been expressing concern.

Evacuations should be weighed very carefully before being implemented...b/c too many "sky is falling" evacuations when ultimately the conditions didn't warrant it..leads to complacency. And people who would ordinarily evacuate out of need...become conditioned to think that maybe it isn't really necessary after all.

I think it is important---when comparing Houston--and New Orleans..and the unpredictability of hurricanes....cities have to go with what they think is best with what information they have been provided.

Someone posted earlier that all of Houston was under a voluntary evacuation---perhaps more clarity is needed in the future. They said no distinction was made that only certain areas...or certain people--it was for everyone. At one point--the NHC was predicting a 4 landfall with Houston being on the bad side of the hit. Evacuations were already well underway. The city was being praised for thinking ahead. Now they are being chided for it. And New Orleans is just the opposite--not soon enough.....and they are being chided for it.

In the end--until it hits, there are no guarantees...and the city and state government officials aren't certified in meteorology.

You want to move that many people--you need a lot of time...and Houston had that time.

If a 5 was heading my way--I'd sure as heck would be scared...I don't need to watch the news for the freak show .

 

[C.Ann]

Interesting comment I heard on the news today - I believe it was either the Governor of Texas or the Mayor of HOuston:

"If you evacuate three times and save your life once , you've done the right thing."

 

[mickeyfan2]

Interesting comment I heard on the news today - I believe it was either the Governor of Texas or the Mayor of HOuston:

"If you evacuate three times and save your life once , you've done the right thing."

I like this one.

 

[rie'smom]

Many of the weather sites do have meteorologists as the moderators. Hardcore weather for one. Also,WWL weather forum always has a meteorologist in charge. NHC was bound and determined that Rita was going to hit the Texas coast. It was easy to see 2 days before the storm hit that Galveston and Houston were not going to take a direct hit. No I'm not a meteorologist but Brad Panovich is and he predicted this ahead of time-so did many others. The storm came in at Cameron LA. Evacuation is a pain-I know I've done it many times. If the NHC and others had stressed a possible LA landfall sooner,many more people might have left. The news people were anxious for the big story- they were salivating over the possiblility of Houston being ripped apart.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Many of the weather sites do have meteorologists as the moderators. Hardcore weather for one. Also,WWL weather forum always has a meteorologist in charge. NHC was bound and determined that Rita was going to hit the Texas coast. It was easy to see 2 days before the storm hit that Galveston and Houston were not going to take a direct hit. No I'm not a meteorologist but Brad Panovich is and he predicted this ahead of time-so did many others. The storm came in at Cameron LA. Evacuation is a pain-I know I've done it many times. If the NHC and others had stressed a possible LA landfall sooner,many more people might have left. The news people were anxious for the big story- they were salivating over the possiblility of Houston being ripped apart.

THANK YOU!!!!! I figure it's on me to study this stuff so I know what is the best decision for my family. I have learned so much over the past year, and being so informed makes me feel much better, I now know that I can make a clear decision, free from the hype.

 

[txaggiemomof3]

THANK YOU!!!!! I figure it's on me to study this stuff so I know what is the best decision for my family. I have learned so much over the past year, and being so informed makes me feel much better, I now know that I can make a clear decision, free from the hype.

Many people WERE informed - this argument is really insulting to me.

Please, tell me which sites were saying Wednesday night that Galveston/Houston was in the clear? Next time I'll check those out. I figured I had a pretty good handle on things between my three local stations in Houston, The Weather Channel, Wunderground.com (Dr. Jeff Masters and Steve Gregory's blogs as well as comments sections), Skeetobiteweather.com, TAOS Damage Forecast, etc..... Believe me, I looked for any piece of positive information I could find and it *wasn't* there when I needed to make the key decision to evacuate my family. Finding out later in the day Thursday or on Friday was too late. I watched this hurricane from when it was a Tropical Depression before it hit the Keys. It changed from being a moderate threat to being a major threat as soon as it emerged from the Keys. We were willing to stay for a Cat. 3 storm but once it was predicted to hit as a Cat.4+ and knowing that parts of inland Mississippi were devastated from Katrina - our decision was made. It is completely your business if you would choose to not evacuate your family under similar circumstances but please do not insult others by assuming that they were somehow uninformed about what was happening.

Sorry if my tone is coming off as rude but it has been an extremely stressful and emotional last week for us and the last thing I want to hear right now was that I was somehow uninformed or a victim of hype in making our decision to evacuate.

Hindsight is 20/20 and I would rather be safe than sorry when it comes to protecting my family.

 

[RescueRanger]

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.

Hi folks! I just got online for the first time since last week. I work in law enforcement and I live in Beaumont, TX. We have been on 24 hr shifts since Thursday and are currently on 12 hr shifts with no days off indefinitely. No power, no water or natural gas in some areas, and the city looks like a war zone. I got online today to look for a little distraction and maybe some uplifting threads and the first one i see is this. Let me say that second guessing evacuation orders is foolish. To think that weather forecasters can acurately predict what these storms will do is just ridiculous. The truth of the matter is that for cities the size of Houston and Beaumont and the surrounding areas, you can't just evacuate on a moments notice. If there is ANY chance whatsoever that a storm of Rita's magnitude will strike a particular area, it is only prudent to evacuate. This is an act of nature and hurricanes will go where they want no matter what some forecaster thinks. To those of you who have given well wishes for us in the disaster areas, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. For those that feel it is necessary to argue over a vital tool such as evacuations, find something better to do with your time. I have wasted valuable time myself in just responding to some of these statements. Excuse me now while I step back out into the real world where lives have been lost and homes have been destroyed. May God bless those that have lost so much in this tragedy.

 

[C.Ann]

Excuse me now while I step back out into the real world where lives have been lost and homes have been destroyed. May God bless those that have lost so much in this tragedy.

-----------------------

Thanks for all the hard work you're doing for those in need down there.. Thank God for those like yourself who step up to the plate and take their jobs seriously.. The folks there are lucky to have you..

Take care and stay safe!

 

[lovehoney]

I live in Houston in a 100 year flood plain. I was in a voluntary evacuation zone. With the information I had Wednesday night I decided to evacuate. We went to Dallas area to friends. We left early enough that we didn't hit too much traffic (9 hours to get there).

Because of the weather reports Wednesday night we almost went to family in Abbeville, LA. Now that most of Abbeville is underwater we were really happy with our decision to go north . Our family in Abbeville is okay - they headed for relatives in Lafayette - don't know about their houses yet.

I would definitely evacuate again if faced with the information I had Wednesday night. A Cat 5 was headed our way! Yes, I knew it could turn, yes I knew it would probably weaken - but I was not willing to take the chance with my two small children. The probability of it hitting Galveston and 150 miles either side of Galveston were almost the same.

To evacuate or not is a really hard decision when you are faced with it. Everybody has a different situation and I can't really find fault with anyone who decided to leave.

RescueRanger: Thanks for the great work you do! We are sending tons of prayers your way!

T

 

[yecats]

Hi C.Ann - I just responded to another post that you had but in reference to this one. I am a permenantly displaced person who is lucky enough to have a good employer that employed most of the New Orleans people in his Lafayette office. As such the closest that I could locate an apartment was 20 miles west outside of Lafayette (thousands of displaced persons had done the same thing I did when they learned that they couldn't return home anytime soon) and the apartments and housing went within days of Hurricane Katrina. Trust me, I would have never rented the apartment that I did but there was nothing else available. As such this now placed me on the edge of Hurricane winds for Hurricane Rita (yep I stayed).

Why you ask? Frankly I am sick (really and truly sick) and tired of leaving. You sit hours on the interstate and then there is nowhere to go. For the past 6 years I have left this area for possible close hits and have actually had the experience of sitting in my car to Houston for nearly 24 hours (this is normally a 6 hour drive). Have you driven a car going 6 miles per hour for 24 hours? When my family left for Katrina we should've had a 7 hour drive to Georgia but this lasted 18 pain staking hours and the second most miserable drive of my life (my mother got sick on this trip and I had just been released 3 days prior to Katrina after having minor surgery). Frankly when Rita came, I figured if GOD really is ready to take me, he can have me. I have been extremely sick and have been hospitalized repeatedly in the past 3 months and began to have symptoms when Rita was coming. I can't drive and vomit at the same time so I figured if GOD wants me, then he had his chance. We watched the Interstate 10 as the masses evacuated from TX to LA as well as much of the people in those LA parishes (that are right next to where I am staying) and yes traffic wasn't flowing well and there wasn't anyplace to run to. God was gracious this time and we just watched a ton of wind and rain and we were all shocked when the apartment actually stood through it all. A lot of people don't leave anymore because you sit on the interstate and fall asleep while driving (I did). Your car overheats and you can't get gas or food anywhere because either it is sold out or the business owners are leaving with you (this happened in Katrina everything in MS was closed as were most businesses in AL). There are tons of other misery's that come along with the fleeing package that most can't comprehend. There are no bathrooms available, reststops are closed. Most people in my family are insulin dependent diabetics and have to eat and take insulin and it is hard to do when you've been on the road for 8 hours and haven't driven 100 miles from home. Not trying to blast you but until you've gone through it you don't have a clue.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Not trying to blast you but until you've gone through it you don't have a clue.

A few of us on here do have a clue. We may not have experience with the devestation of New Orleans...but we have been through hurricanes and evacuations and lack of power--and probably a touch of oops...we'll have to remember that for next time planning.

I am sorry for your losses.

However--the questioning of an evacuation after the fact is always out there. It happens after every hurricane event. I think it was good that people did evacuate. There is no perfect forecast. We deal with the information we have out there. Personally--I don't have the luxury of playing roulette to find the best weather guesser out there. My zone is mandatory...so when there is a call--turn or not, I pretty much don't have a choice seeing as I have two small children. We have to leave. We evacuated twice in one month last season . And enjoyed the wonderful lack of services that comes along with the aftermath.


Some people blasting Houston for their premature actions--I am confident that some are probably part of the goup that says New Orleans didn't act fast enough. And had they not taken the actions they did and the Cat 5 hit...the government of Texas would still be getting gripes for that.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Not trying to blast you but until you've gone through it you don't have a clue.

Florida resident, here. Been there, done that, which is why I do what I do now.

I am sorry I am upsetting people with my posts. I really didn't mean to. I am upset with the media. I don't blame people for evacuating, I blame the media for not giving out all the important information.

Truth be told, I am now at the mercy of my employer since I am on our crisis response team.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Florida resident, here. Been there, done that, which is why I do what I do now.

I am sorry I am upsetting people with my posts. I really didn't mean to. I am upset with the media. I don't blame people for evacuating, I blame the media for not giving out all the important information.

Truth be told, I am now at the mercy of my employer since I am on our crisis response team.

Miss J...you have been very wise in your postings....I always look for your posts when a hurricane is on the horizon.


But the governor doesn't listen to the media--they do their own watching...and they utilize media, right. If they are listening to the media for the course of action--they've got problems.

As far as the sites you post...I don't know any forecaster who uses them officially. Who decides that NHC is the "official" track. In the past, I do recall some of the media getting into a bit of trouble for trying to do their own forecasting...and I remember for Floyd, our mandatory evacuation was at 4pm....and the networks didn't begin coverage until then. And I was long gone!!!. The mandatory evac was never lifted until the hurricane was supposed to hit and then veered....it was in effect for a couple of days.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

As far as the sites you post...I don't know any forecaster who uses them officially. Who decides that NHC is the "official" track. In the past, I do recall some of the media getting into a bit of trouble for trying to do their own forecasting...and I remember for Floyd, our mandatory evacuation was at 4pm....and the networks didn't begin coverage until then. And I was long gone!!!. The mandatory evac was never lifted until the hurricane was supposed to hit and then veered....it was in effect for a couple of days.

It's not an official site, just a helpful one. And yep I remember one meteorologist that was fired over Floyd. Of course he was right.

As far as the government officials go, you know that after Katrina they were not going to take any chances. They were going to be just as scary. Speaking of scary, I remember some people refering to Tom Terry as Scary Terry last hurricane season. I am a Tom Sorrells girl myself. He doesn't get all worked up.

 

[mickeyfan2]

I am upset with the media. I don't blame people for evacuating, I blame the media for not giving out all the important information.

What did the media not release?

 

[Qwackertoo]

Interesting comment I heard on the news today - I believe it was either the Governor of Texas or the Mayor of HOuston:

"If you evacuate three times and save your life once , you've done the right thing."

That is the best quote I've read all day~!

Deana