Breaking: Galveston Mayor Calls For Voluntary Evacuation

[David Zephyr]

If 200,000 refugees from New Orleans who are now in Houston will have to possibly now evacuate Houston, what possible hell will these poor people's lives be?

Here's the projected line of the hurricane's path from weather.com:



Here's the breaking news from the Galveston Mayor:

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

Galveston Mayor Calls For Voluntary Evacuation:

"Based on information on state and weather information we are entering into our emergency management plan for Galveston. I am calling for a voluntary evacuation of Galveston. The evacuation will begin tomorrow (Tuesday) at 2pm.

Tuesday at two o’clock I will ask for a voluntary evacuation, if the weather predictions remain the same. If they change I will let you know that.

The City of Galveston has arranged for approximately 80 buses to help evacuate our citizens who are dependant upon public transportation.

Those buses will be staged at the Island Community Center which is located at 4700 Broadway. City of Galveston buses, along with the Galveston Independent School District buses and Metro buses from Houston, if needed, will help us.

The buses will leave Galveston beginning at 10am on Wednesday morning as long as there is no change in the weather predictions. The bus drivers are voluntary and they will be with their families onboard.

Citizens will also be able to take their pets. The state says that the pets will also be able to be evacuated because we found that so many people decided not to leave New Orleans because they didn’t want to leave their pets behind.

The pets need to be in cages. If you will call 409-763-8477, Gladys Jones at Crime Stoppers in Galveston is arranging with Wal-Mart and also with U-Haul to help you with the pets.

I am urging citizens to do the following: If you are on medication, call your physician and ask for a three months supply of your medicine. You should also ask for your treatment plan if you are on chemotherapy, dialysis, any of those kinds of consistent treatments. Ask for your treatment plan and take it with you.

Please take your valuables, any deeds to your properties, any insurance information that you think you may need.

The number to call in Galveston City Hall for information regarding this evacuation is 409-797-3710. That is our emergency office and it is open.

I would ask that you all stay tuned to radio station 740, KTRH in Houston and Channel 16 which is our citywide public information channel and Channel 17 which is the school district channel

Link: http://www.galvestonpolicenews.com/index.cfm?act=Newsletter.cfm&CFID=16876598&CFTOKEN=50719648&category=Left%20Column&newsletterid=720&menugroup=Home

[ClintonTyree]

1. I think that's a little premature.....

This thing isn't going to be anywhere near Galveston until Sunday or so. Honestly, I don't think it's going anywhere near Galveston. Every Hurricane this year and most in the past have been tracking to the east of their 5 day projections and most meteorologists think this one is no different. Sorry to say, but so ar this one is shaping up for another Louisiana strike or possibly east of that.

[brokensymmetry]

2. Maybe not....

Think about it. Suppose you have a couple cats, but no cages. You're on a couple prescriptions, and need to see the doctor to get the 90 day supply mentioned above. You need to get some vital papers and make copies.

Oh, and you have a job - and they expect you to be there.


If you were mayor - would you want to take the chance with those people's lives? I wouldn't.

[aquart]

24. Two cats and NO carrier?

So if they got sick you were always planning to let them die?

[lastliberalintexas]

3. Galveston is an island with 2 means of access to the mainland-

I45 and the Bolivar ferry. With a population of about 60,000 and the majority of the models showing Galveston/Houston as the most likely target, I'd say it's a good move. Yes, it might turn out to be for nothing, and I'm sure the people of Galveston would like that. But I think we on the Gulf coast have been reminded of why it's better to have a few false alarms than have no calls for evacuation.

[David Zephyr]

6. I was posting the same thing when you were.

How are you doing, by the way? It's been a while since we chatted here at the DU.

I think that the Mayor is acting wisely, too.

[lastliberalintexas]

7. Great minds and all that

:)

:hi: David. I'm scouring the web for info and tonight I'll start packing things up, though we won't have to leave for a couple of days yet. Hopefully the track will change and it won't become as strong as projected, but we'll be ready just in case.

I hope sunny California is treating you well! :)

[David Zephyr]

9. Keep me posted on your situation there.

My sister tried to find rooms in Huntville, but they are all taken there already, so they are now making just-in-case "plans" to head straight to Dallas where there are plenty of rooms and where her son lives.

Keep us posted. :hi:

[Geoff R. Casavant]

29. You lie! :-)

You can't be the last liberal in Texas, 'cause I'm here!

[BikeWriter]

44. Me, too!

[David Zephyr]

4. ClintonTyree, perhaps you should call the Mayor of Galveston.

1.) The projected path that you provided differs from the latest like the one I provided.

2.) Galveston is an island with a causeway to exit from and a ferry over to Bolivar island. That's all.

3.) Galveston and a great part of Houston are under sea level. The San Jacinto monument, once sitting high on a raised pad, is now surrounded by water due to sinking over the last 50 years.

4.) Because of the current Katrina refugge situation, there are few if any hotels or motels for people to stay in the Houston area for these folks to evacuate to. Even Huntsville, where the State College is, has little if any hotel / motel lodging available.

I think that the Mayor is acting prudently. Perhaps you might give her a call and tell her that she is acting prematurely.

[AspenRose]

40. My brother and I were discussing this last night

Portions of Houston sinking over time....Buffalo Bayou's potential for flooding...we've a cousin in Clear Lake....Rita could be nasty and I agree, better safe than sorry.

[Spinzonner]

5. Ok, stop building houses and apartments in the Southeastern US ...

Everybody will live in mobile homes of their choice and move from geographical area to geographical area that is not currently being threatened by some natural disaster.

Cities will be reduced to concrete parking platforms with underground utility feeds. Sufficient places will be provided to handle the population of 2-5 other cities depending upon population densities, proximity to other cities at risk, and their population.

Each city will be assigned one or more designated evacuation cities depending on the type and frequency of threats it faces and how many sister evacuation cities are subject to the same threats.

At this time, rippling evacuations are not being contemplated but remain an option for future consideration.

I hope this is just :sarcasm:

[damntexdem]

13. Will 2005 convinced the USA that it was real?

Not more storms, but more-intense storms. Warm Gulf waters feeding the heat machine.

Or maybe it will be a false alarm and we can all go back to our SUVs.

[barb162]

19. a lot of people don't want to deal with what's coming

because it won't be pleasant. But denial and hoping it doesn't happen makes it worse

[barb162]

15. once a hurricane passes and all the buildings are destroyed

the rebuilding should not be allowed. I just don't know how else to solve the problem, especially if the hurricanes keep getting more powerful re global warming..

[Boomer]

21. Sarcasm or not, the dislocations will continue

Eventually, large populations of people will be forced out of the Northwest for lack of water. If we're lucky, the migration will be gradual, increasing the ability of the rest of the country to absorb the influx.

Meanwhile, more and more poor residents of the coastal areas will end up in FEMA camps that were supposed to be "temporary" but will become entrenched slums because people on disability or working for minimum wage cannot afford the refurbished housing that has taken the place of old low-rent neighborhoods.

Add a major earthquake to the West Coast and we'll be well on our way to third-world conditions.

[DLnyc]

28. IMHO, large numbers in the US already live in third-world conditions.

And even the middle class has a standard of living, in terms of actual comfort and confidence about the future, that is behind almost all countries in Europe, according to many Europeans I've talked to. But unlike people in the third world and people in countries like Bulgaria and perhaps Romania, people believe that their conditions compare quite well to the rest of the world's, 'cause the teevee tells them so!

IMHO

[daleo]

37. Are you sure you don't mean the southwest?

It seems to me that the northwest is not short of water.

[Boomer]

42. Severe drought in the Northwest US

http://drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html

Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are experiencing severe drought. Whereas the Southwest is only experiencing moderate drought.

See the article reference for a drought map.

[daleo]

46. Right, I was just thinking of the coastal strip

That's pretty soggy, but further inland can be dry for sure.

[Blue_Roses]

8. it's better safe than sorry

and after Katrina I don't think anything that helps in evacuating is premature...:shrug:

[damntexdem]

11. Galveston was wiped out a hundred years ago.

Now with NO hit, I imagine that Galvestonians (sic?) may be a little edgy -- just a bridge to the mainland.

[rainbow4321]

34. The anniversary of that storm was on 9/8

http://www.1900storm.com/

On September 8, 1900, a hurricane struck Galveston. Winds estimated at 140 mph swept over the island, leaving devastation in their wake. After the storm surge of 15.7 feet subsided, Galvestonians left their shelters to find 6,000 of the city's 37,000 residents dead and more than 3,600 buildings totally destroyed.
The 1900 Storm is still considered to be the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history. After the storm, Galveston constructed a seawall and raised the grade of the island to protect it from future hurricanes.

8.7 feet: The highest elevation on Galveston Island in 1900.
15.7 feet: The height of the storm surge.
$20 million: Estimated damage costs related to the storm. In today's dollars, that would be more than $700 million.

Talks about the city rebuilding and the seawall:
http://www.1900storm.com/rebuilding/index.lasso

[TankLV]

25. Better safe than sorry.

I vote for safe.

[DLnyc]

26. Actually, I think Katrina tracked to the WEST of it's predicted path.

IIRC, it was initially projected to pass through the middle of the Florida panhandle. Over the period of a few days (?) the predictions gradually worked westward to New Orleans.

[Sequoia]

10. Please not Galveston, they'll be destroyed.

That book, "Issac's Storm" was very scary. A part in it that was so like this latest storm was the story of the orphan children ropeing themselves together and last week (?) that story came out of the 22 people who tied themselves together. Why do people do this?!!

[barb162]

12. okay flame away people, but I wish all coast to about 5 miles

inland would be made national seashore. This building on beaches and sandbar stuff has to stop. Let the wetlands, sandbars, etc., reform and everyone will be better off.

[damntexdem]

14. New Orleans is miles inland.

The national-seashore idea would not affect its rebuilding.

[barb162]

16. I know, but look at Mississippi and St. Bernard etc parishes...

total destruction.

NOLA should either be built up above sea level or leave huge areas of it unbuilt ( as it continues to sink).

I hate to sound like a nazi about this, but NOLA is an accident waiting to happen with the huge wetlands destruction around there and the city being surrounded by water. Or we do like they do in the Netherlands.

And I am not saying this lightly, I happen to love that city and area

[kestrel91316]

23. Wetlands restoration needs to be a MAJOR focus in the rebuilding

of NOLA, but I fear that * and his cronies will do NOTHING in that area. They truly hate nature - she gets in the way of their profiteering and pillaging.

[barb162]

27. I think you are 100% right.

Plus there is the greed of the tax bodies. The tax bodies KNOW these places all over the SE shouldn't be built right on these sandbars, but they are so greedy they give the builders permits to build. When you look at all these areas that are about one inch above sea level and people build there... duh. I understand why they want to but at the same time I think I would be fearful a few months every year.

Even if all the poor people had their houses rebuilt in NOLA at governemtn expense would they ever want to live near one of those levees after what happened 3 weeks ago and they were swimming for their lives or stuck in their attics for days. I bet a lot or most will never go back there even with levee strengthening. I know I wouldn't want to live near a levee when I know the water is higher on the other side and I know people were dying right and left.

I just can't figure out how NOLA will ever be like it was... I wonder if it will slowly die away.

And if I had no money, no insurance on my house, that house is sitting in the gook water for 4 weeks or more straight, is a total loss and it's near a levee, I really doubt I would ever go back there. Ever

[DLnyc]

30. Just a theory, but pehaps it is built that way because the high land is

mostly taken up by the higher income brackets and the poor and working-classes (who are necessary to keep the ports and refineries running) need to be put somewhere. The cheapest land probably ends up being under sea level and/or exposed to storms.

[barb162]

35. I think that's what happened. Except for only one rich area that's

still under water, I think all the rest of the rich areas are on higher ground.

In my own town, about 175 years old, there is this very low area that was never built. About ten years ago the city, wanting more money, let developers put houses in. We all laughed, like no one would EVER buy down in that steep valley. So it was filled up with homeowners in a year. And it floods fairly regularly. Oh, big surprise.

[kestrel91316]

22. I tend to agree. I don't know about the 5 miles, but at least a mile would

be a good idea. The concept of BUFFER seems to escape some folks.

I don't think any homes already there should be torn down, but any that get destroyed by storms, the government should take the land by eminent domain and pay fair market value, and consider it money VERY well spent. How much does this constant rebuilding cost the US in cheap FEMA loans, and free money given to "victims"? Eventually everything close to the shore will be destroyed by our worsening storms, and it can go back to dunes and natural seashore and serve its buffering purpose.

[barb162]

38. Yeah, I agree with you. No homes should be torn down, etc

They could use this storm and its surge as a guide to where the buffer end should be. One mile, 4 miles, who knows but at least use that surge as a guide.

As I am writing this, I am listening to the TV and they are talking about how they are not letting people return to NOLA because of the next hurricane. Can you imagine cleaning it up and it gets nailed again just about a month later? 15 or so inches of rain in the Keys expected.

[Bridget Burke]

43. What about houses on fault lines?

When The Big One hits California, I'm sure everybody will be glad to abandon their property.

[bluestateguy]

17. Isn't Galveston pretty well fortified by that seawall?

I don't know.

[barb162]

18. I saw a story on it yesterday... it's supposed to be pretty strong

[rainbow4321]

32. Parts of it...

I don't LIVE down there but visited in the Spring. If I remember correctly, there were some houses past where the seawall ended. I know the condo we stayed at was right down on the beach and past it, away from the seawall, were houses on stilts...

Some of the non-touristy area neighborhoods are just as impoverished as NO looks on TV. How their houses can survive the winds and everything else, who knows. HOPEfully we won't find out anytime soon!

[shugah]

33. the seawall does not run the length of the island

and it is not as high as when it was originally built. galveston is 3 miles wide at the widest point and lost 100' of beach in the last major storm that hit it (alicia, a cat 3). i can't imagine how it would fare if a category 5 hit it.

i don't know if the evacuation needs to start right now, but preparation to evacuate definitely should. there are a lot of poor people there that will not have the means to leave if it becomes necessary.

[A-Possum]

20. The Bolivar ferry does NOT evacuate to the mainland

It goes from Galveston Island to the Bolivar Peninsula (barrier island), then it's a long long road (maybe 40 miles?) at just above sea level to the tiny town of High Island and a single bridge to the wetlands south of Beaumont. Not a good way to go unless you leave now! ;)

[AspenRose]

39. Ah, memories of feeding the gulls on the ferry to Bolivar.

Stay safe, y'all!

[rainbow4321]

41. Love the ferry....especially at sunset

Such a pretty place...hugs to everyone in Rita's potential path. Please use your best judgement!

[mom cat]

31. Get out folks. Just get out. Please don't wait.

[lovuian]

36. Theres a reason Galveston is gunshy!!! Worst US Natural disaster

happened in Galveston where thousands were killed. Thats why the mayor is jumpy!!! History is UGLY THERE!!!

[malaise]

45. It sure looks like Texas