Evacuating

[Ashikaga]

Haha

Right after Hurricane Rita passed, someone wrote a letter to the Houston Chronicle which said that most of the vehicles left stranded because their owners ran out of and couldn't find gasoline were 12mpg SUVs.

[Greens!]

Back on the subject of evacuations.......

I would like to see them get people to evacuate to shelter in HOUSTON. Look at New Orleans during Katrina. It WAS a category 5 hurricane and most of the buildings only had minor roof damage.

Statistically, most of the deaths in hurricanes occur from drowning and floods. Rather than put millions of people in almost twice as many cars as necessary on the freeway, they should only evacuate the people threatened by storm surge and in floodplains. These people shouldnt have to leave Houston at all. As long as you move your car to higher ground, flooding will not be an issue and there is no need to drive hundreds of miles to safety.

Our metro area is so vast that even if a hurricane were to directly hit downtown Houston, the strongest and most damaging winds would only be in a small pocket. New Orleans and Galveston are evacuated because they are prone to complete flooding.

It makes me sick that so many people endangered others in order to avoid filing insurance claims and missing kickass parties in Dallas and Austin.

[TheNiche]

Back on the subject of evacuations.......

I would like to see them get people to evacuate to shelter in HOUSTON. Look at New Orleans during Katrina. It WAS a category 5 hurricane and most of the buildings only had minor roof damage.

Statistically, most of the deaths in hurricanes occur from drowning and floods. Rather than put millions of people in almost twice as many cars as necessary on the freeway, they should only evacuate the people threatened by storm surge and in floodplains. These people shouldnt have to leave Houston at all. As long as you move your car to higher ground, flooding will not be an issue and there is no need to drive hundreds of miles to safety.

Our metro area is so vast that even if a hurricane were to directly hit downtown Houston, the strongest and most damaging winds would only be in a small pocket. New Orleans and Galveston are evacuated because they are prone to complete flooding.

It makes me sick that so many people endangered others in order to avoid filing insurance claims and missing kickass parties in Dallas and Austin.

By the time that Katrina hit, it was no longer a 5. Wasn't it a weak 4 by that time? Moreover, it hit east of NO so that NO got the weak side of the storm. Also, trees tend to fall when hit with such high winds...you know, into houses.

Remember Ivan? A friend of mine lives in Hattiesburg, MS and recounted to me how a 12-story brick building collapsed from the wind. Hattiesburg is inland, too.

Also, do you really want a population of over 5 million people sheltering in place once the electric grid is destroyed, water service is shut down for an unknown period of time, and major roads are blocked by trees, downed power lines, telephone lines, and glass shards.

With such population density in that kind of an environment, where police were completely tied up with more important things (and just plain couldn't get to you) don't you just know that criminals would take advantage of the chaos to make mischief?

And you prefer that 5 million people to be stuck in that kind of an environment?

[musicman]

Also, do you really want a population of over 5 million people sheltering in place once the electric grid is destroyed, water service is shut down for an unknown period of time, and major roads are blocked by trees, downed power lines, telephone lines, and glass shards.

With such population density in that kind of an environment, where police were completely tied up with more important things (and just plain couldn't get to you) don't you just know that criminals would take advantage of the chaos to make mischief?

And you prefer that 5 million people to be stuck in that kind of an environment?

For those here during Alicia, it was a pretty miserable experience. I remember we didn't have power for at least 4 days but some areas didn't have it for weeks. Tons of property damage as well. Tons of damage to the trees. The flooding was bad as well, but not quite as bad as Allison for us. Couldnt do simple things like drink tap water, turn on a/c, get gas for cars, go shopping, turn on lights at night, etc.

[TheNiche]

...turn on lights at night, etc.

You mean that the sky wasn't orange?

[lilyheights]

For those here during Alicia, it was a pretty miserable experience. I remember we didn't have power for at least 4 days but some areas didn't have it for weeks. Tons of property damage as well. Tons of damage to the trees. The flooding was bad as well, but not quite as bad as Allison for us. Couldnt do simple things like drink tap water, turn on a/c, get gas for cars, go shopping, turn on lights at night, etc.

To support the different parts of the city experience different things idea, this was not my Alicia memory.

For us, power returned the same day, no flooding, it wasn't much. We lived in Sharpstown and we faired well. That isn't to say others didn't and that it isn't a crap shoot; it will be different for everyone.

MS, not LA, got the brunt of Katrina? -- easy to forget due to news coverage focus.

[westguy]

I just saw this link.

It says a key weather satellite has passed its life expectancy, and if it fails, hurricane tracking could be up to 16 percent less accurate. Could anyone image having to call for more evacuations like the one for Rita? If people get used to false alarms, they will choose to stay as they did during Katrina.

[HtownWxBoy]

I just saw this link.

It says a key weather satellite has passed its life expectancy, and if it fails, hurricane tracking could be up to 16 percent less accurate. Could anyone image having to call for more evacuations like the one for Rita? If people get used to false alarms, they will choose to stay as they did during Katrina.

The evacuation for Rita was not really a "false alarm". More people evacuated than should have b/c everyone got scared, but those who were told to evacuate DEFINITELY should have. Trust me, I work in the weather business. The potential was there for Rita to directly hit Galveston, but in the last few hours, it shifted northward and the eye went into the TX/LA border area. I was working the night Rita hit, and I can't even tell you how close Galveston came from being directly hit... they were VERY lucky! If people would have waited until that happened to evacuate, they never would have gotten out in time. People llving along the coast are going to have to learn that they are going to have to evacuate if they don't want to push their lives at risk, and 9 times out of 10, the area they evacuate from won't take a direct hit. The technology is not there to accurately predict where the CENTER of a hurricane will go exactly even 12 hours out. If they don't like that, they have 2 options... 1)Don't live along the coast. 2)Don't evacuate, and risk losing your life. Plain and simple. :closedeyes:

[westguy]

Well, remember we had storms last season that were forecast to become major hurricanes in the GoM, but they all turned out back to sea. Obviously better forecasting won't affect three-day forecasts too much, but make it a week and things can change completely.