I cannot believe my eyes when I see thousands of cars stuck on the

[opihimoimoi]

freeway going North from Galvaston...9 hours to go 20 miles... What a cluster fuck...cars runniong outta gas, no toilets, no toilet paper, staions outa gas....

So why is the south bound lanes not used?

They are empty???? WTF is the matter with common sense???

[whistle]

1. Same happened with Katrina

[pitohui]

7. that is completely & totally untrue

we had contraflow w. katrina & it worked v. v. well

i evac'd 36 hrs in advance of the storm & went 60-70 mph all the way to brookhaven, miss where contraflow ended

we had some bad evacs w. ivan & dennis but this storm was coordinated v. well & both states did a fine job of keeping the traffic flowing

[A-Possum]

19. Kay Bailey Hutchinson claiming NOLA didn't use contraflow

when interviewed about why no contraflow, she said she was "frustrated" and "they had the same problem in New Orleans."

This is gonna be a lie the pugs try to spread, to cover up the Texas screw up.

[whistle]

22. Then my sources were wrong, those being the MSM which reported

....traffic stoppages and failures by the authorities to organize contraflows on the main roads leaving New Orleans. That was early in the evacuations from the Gulf Coastal areas and perhaps the situation changed as the powers got more organized. I was going by what I heard on TV before Katrina hit the coast. If you were there and in the evacuation process directly or part of it from the beginning, I concede to your first hand knowledge. Thanks for setting me straight on that.

[tuvor]

2. I heard on the radio today that they HAD opened the southbound lanes.

Not sure what city, but I thought it was Galveston.

[moc]

5. Yes; all lanes of I-45 northbound from Houston to ~30 mi s of Dallas

[Maru Kitteh]

6. But with hundreds of cars basically PARKED on the lanes out of gas

all the updates I've hears have said it's not really helped much.

Too late.

Again.

[pitohui]

9. yes they waited too long

they should have contraflow going as soon as they announced the evac would be mandatory

don't get ppl out on the road if you aren't prepared to move them

[lectrobyte]

3. Wasn't Gov. Perry just on TV explaining how this was going to

be handled so much better in Texas compared to New Orleans? I don't get why the inbound lanes aren't used either -- I'm surprised folks sitting in traffic jams haven't used their democratic powers and just started driving out on those lanes.

[converted_democrat]

4. I so hope those people get out on time. They will, won't they?? n/t

[moc]

8. Houston evacuee interviewed just now on CNN. Left Houston at 7am

She's about 30 miles south of Dallas now. It looks like the normally 4-5 hour trip is taking 16-18 hours.

Yes, I think they'll make it.

[converted_democrat]

11. Thank you, I hope you're right. I just don't know how much more this

nation can take right now.

[Robertwf]

10. S-bound Lanes Are for

vehicles such as tanker trucks, other supply trucks, etc. that need to get into Houston--or presumably to serve the n-bound vehicles. This is a scenario we will need to think through after this episode passes. How do you move huge numbers of people out of a metro area, esp. a metro area known to have massive traffic snarls?
Do you evacuate in shifts--even license #'s go on one day, odd the next?
Do you pre-evacuate, i.e., get people to convening points and then take them from those points to emergency housing via mass transit?
Do you at the beginning of your evacuation plan start setting up the tanker trucks for the inevitable need to re-fuel cars, as well as set up the porta potties?
Guess this lets us all know that part of the survival kit needs to be some amount of cash, since the banks and ATM's are drained.

[KharmaTrain]

12. It's Been Looking Better...

http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/cameras/camtext.aspx

The I-45 cams were all bumper to bumper today. Hopefully people are moving inland. But where?

I can't keep from wondering how worse this mess would be if they tried to put 100,000 or 200,000 people in school busses into this mess.

BTW...is there any "Shelter of Last Resort?"

[Pithy Cherub]

13. In record heat how many babies, infirm and elderly rode w/o AC

to save on gas? How many cases of heat stroke and other related maladies? Yeah, Governor Perry Asshole (R) of Texas thought it was going swimmingly.:eyes:

My brother and family are out in that crappy traffic and there should be a whole lot of Texans remebering this nightmare at election time.

I cannot bear to watch people being caught in the storm on the freeway when they all tried to do the right thing. While Katrina aftermath spurred people to evacuate, Rita pre-evacuation may dissauade people in the future. :cry:

Wishing and praying for the best for everybody. :grouphug:

[Skink]

14. Do this like you get off a plane.

The front has got to go first so mandatory evacuations have to take place in areas that think they can stay. Fascists are supposed to be good at this kind of thing.:eyes:

[dweller]

15. our local nightly news coined it

'a deathtrap' ...

then focused on a few families that were trying to keep a positive mind, upbeat, etc.

BBC showing the poor and homeless waiting on the buses. A recent La. evacuee trying to leave ... again.

now showing the deserted coastal towns, and still, some stayed behind.

this story grows more bizarre by the hour.

dp

[opihimoimoi]

16. Just on the News, some said FUCK IT and returned home to Houston

in 12 hours, they went 30 miles....

[kskiska]

17. One family had two sheepdogs

and one had gotten sick from the heat. They went home.

[opihimoimoi]

18. You would think they had learned but the evidence shows vice versa

[Lorien]

20. Are people using the side street and two lane highways?

I was amazed when I evacuated last year. I sat in traffic for nearly six hours at the Georgia/ Florida border-then finally pulled out my atlas and studied it. I took the first exit, drove 50mph East for 45 miles on a two lane highway, then continued North on another rural highway for another 100+ miles-WITHOUT ANY TRAFFIC! When I finally made my way west and back to the interstate in was just as gridlocked as it had been 100+ miles ago-but I only stayed in it for two miles before coming to my hotel. What amazed me is that those THOUSANDS of evacuees had not even considered another route! They simply followed the masses-2-10mph for hours and hours on end. It was bizarre.

[expatriate]

21. It's the sheep mentality, I think.

I've seen this in similar situations, ranging from evacuations to simply bad traffic jams. People so often don't seem to have any notion that there is some other way around.

Perhaps they aren't familiar with the area, or don't have a map. I know for sure I would bail and find another way rather than just sitting there - but I always carry maps in the car, and I'm known for being intrepid.

I'm always surprised when people don't seem to know any alternate ways around their own towns, and only use Interstate highways.

[cmf]

23. They waited too long to open the contraflow.

Plain and simple. I-45 was only opened up to it in the afternoon. I don't know if 290 or 59 were ever opened up. My sister and best friend both live there and they both spent most of the day trying unsuccessfully to get out with their families. My best friend and her husband even tried again when they heard that 45 was opened up. They both ended up going home to ride it out.

The contraflow out of NO was one of the few things that they managed right down there, so whatever talking head or republicon operative saying that they didn't do it needs to STFU, because people with cars had an infinitely easier time getting out of NO than in Houston.