31 Die From Hurricane Rita In Harris County

**pnewton** · #1 Sep 27, '05, 8:40 pm

http://www.click2houston.com/news/5028340/detail.html

I was wondering when this story would come out. I was of the opinion when I saw the lines of cars evacuating Houston that more people would die of the evacuation than the hurricane. The previous death toll was 10, six of whom died afterwards from improper use of generators.

"The death toll from Hurricane Rita has climbed to 31 in Harris County"

How misleading to put the blame on the hurricane instead of the evacuation.

geezerbob · #2 Sep 28, '05, 1:16 am

I don't see your point. The evacuation and the use of the generator were both a result of the hurricane. Are you saying the evacuation shouldn't have been ordered?

**pnewton** · #3 Sep 28, '05, 1:58 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by geezerbob

I don't see your point. The evacuation and the use of the generator were both a result of the hurricane. Are you saying the evacuation shouldn't have been ordered?

I believe that the evacuation did cost more lives than necessary. There is not sufficient infrastructure in place to evacuate Houston. There was not enough fuel or evacuation routes available.

We had seven buses of elderly and disabled that had to return after a day on the road in gridlock. Had we had a direct strike, these people still would have ended up back where they started, halfway between Houston and the coast. Many people that did make it to a shelter inland had to use their own car for shelter due to lack of mobility and overcrowding.

I think it is time to reconsider the concept of evacuating further inland. I understand the need to get everyone out of areas affected by storm surge, but refuge from hurricane force winds is a manageable problem.

I have lost faith in the state's ability to effect such a task. Most of what worked well did so because of local efforts, sometimes in defiance of state mandate, sometimes independantly of state interference. For example. a fair percentage of drivers were able to avoid the evacuation routes. Had they not done so, traffic would have been even worse along these routes. (12-24 hours to go 100 miles, as it was). Police along these non-sanctioned routes. jumped in and kept these routes moving at a near normal pace.

geezerbob · #4 Sep 28, '05, 2:56 am

We ran into the same problem a few years ago. It appeared that Charleston was going to take a direct hit and the evacuation turned out to be a joke even with Charleston having only about a tenth the population of Houston. It did, however, cause the emergency planners to rethink and adjust the state's evacuation procedures but the planning probably didn't go far enough. Hopefully, we all learn from our mistakes.

Having seen firsthand the damage casued by Hugo in 1989, I feel that evacuations are necessary. Low lying areas likely to be affected by storm surge or flooding from the rains are obviously the first priority. Wind damage can be tremendous, also, especially from tornados spawned by hurricanes. Residential and light commercial structures will not withstand major hurricane winds and are definitely no match for a tornado. Add to structural damage the disabling of the infrastructure - roads, bridges, power, water and sewer - and you have a potential mess in a densely populated area. Evacuations are not nice but you must have a viable alternative.

I shudder to think of what would happen to Hilton Head if a major storm took aim at it. The population is only about forty thousand, but at any given time, there are probably twice that many tourists there and I think each person, resident and visitor alike, must drive two or more cars, judging from the traffic. With only one bridge to the mainland and all two lane roads after that, evacuation will be worse than slow. And, since it is a barrier island with an elevation of less than ten feet, an evacuation would be absolutely necessary. That situation poses a set of problems that probably will be addressed only after a storm hits, just like New Orleans and Houston.

beckers · #5 Sep 28, '05, 6:43 am

So are you saying that people shouldn't have left???? I for one think the state and local government did as bout a good job as they could. Yes it wasn't the best in the world but it did it's job.Had the hurricane hit us then people would be saying congrats to the state and local government for getting people out. Yes the roads were clogged. When you have close to 2.7 million people hitting the roads within a 48 hour period it is going to cause problems.

Think about some of the issues.
1) People didn't wait for their assigned days to leave and who would blame them? Lots of people wanted to get out early. Plus you didn't have just coastal people leaving but people all around houston. Some people just didn't feel comfortable riding out a hurricane in their homes so the moved too. I did it. I moved from inner sity to sugarland. I went from an apartment to a brick house.
2.) Gas- Distrubition centers shut down because they too thought they were going to get hit. It takes awhile for gas to come from austin or dallas plus those tankers got stuck i traffic.Friday the city sent patrol cars up and down the freeways to make sure no one was left out there. Smaller cities (katy) opened up Emergency shelters to take in people from the freeways.
3.) Heat- It was exteremly HOT. We are still under heat advisorys. A lot of people where not prepared for the wait on the roads and didn't bring enough supplies like water. Some citizen patrolled up and down the freeway pass out water and giving people food.
4.) Counterflow- Yes they should have used counterflow earlier. A lot of problem for this extend to the fact of the HOV lanes in the middle being used also and the fact that freeways in houston interconnect with each other that you can't just turn all of 45 into a counter flow because it is also used to connect to 59 and the beltway which would cut off other routes.You also have to take into fact that the freeways don't have easy access for counterflow and have huge concrete dividers. Hard to move those things around. Notice the counterflow used was started in a consturction area on 45 and by using hov lanes on the I-10.

**pnewton** · #6 Sep 28, '05, 11:26 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by beckers

So are you saying that people shouldn't have left???? I for one think the state and local government did as bout a good job as they could.

Yes, at least not everywhere. I know that storm surge is so devestating that evacuation is the only real option for coastal areas. You said you went to Sugarland. That is the type of action I hope planners concentrate more on. My mom lives in a house that is rated to withstand a cat 5. I just don't buy that we can not provide shelter closer to people.

How many churches and civic buildings inland could do the same? Have they even been counted and consulted on the possibility of better shelter in place?

You said. "When you have close to 2.7 million people hitting the roads within a 48 hour period it is going to cause problems. " Are there no calculators that can figure how much gasoline sould be needed and supplies secured?

"Distrubition centers shut down because they too thought they were going to get hit." Why was this allowed if the gas was vital? If it was totally necessary (which I doubt since most gas is moved by pipeline), then we must have reserves in place.

I personally am making preparations to protect me and my family in place without reliance on government help. I believe this is more the spirit of Texas than asking to have my hand held.

beckers · #7 Sep 29, '05, 10:40 am

Yes, at least not everywhere. I know that storm surge is so devestating that evacuation is the only real option for coastal areas. You said you went to Sugarland. That is the type of action I hope planners concentrate more on. My mom lives in a house that is rated to withstand a cat 5. I just don't buy that we can not provide shelter closer to people. ----Shelters were set up. Huntsville,Conroe, A&M all had shelters.I don't think shelters in Sugarland and other places around houston is a wise idea. Up until friday we ourselves were going to recieve 115mph winds in our area. I wasn't totally 100% sure my mom's house was going to survive. I wanted to leave but by then knew it was too late and that my cats would not appericate the ride out of town.

You said. "When you have close to 2.7 million people hitting the roads within a 48 hour period it is going to cause problems. " Are there no calculators that can figure how much gasoline sould be needed and supplies secured? Well they only called for an evaucation of 1.3 or 1.7 and they estimate that 2.7 people got on the move. The state has acknowledge that they didn't plan on gas and other things. They didn't except the gas to be a problem. I mean if you fell up at your house you would except to make it to dallas on that one tank but because of the traffic people lost alot of gas while standing in traffic.

"Distrubition centers shut down because they too thought they were going to get hit." Why was this allowed if the gas was vital? If it was totally necessary (which I doubt since most gas is moved by pipeline), then we must have reserves in place. Yes Gas is moved by pipeline but then it is put into trucks and delivered to gas stations. The average truck can hold 9,000 gallons. At one point that was lasting like 3 hours at gas stations. If the distrubution centers stayed open and were therefore damaged that could cause damage to the environment and possible death for the workers.

I personally am making preparations to protect me and my family in place without reliance on government help. I believe this is more the spirit of Texas than asking to have my hand held.This is absolutely vital. People have to take resonsibility for their own safety. We can't nor except the government to take care of us! Cities and citizens across TEXAS reached out to help each other during this crisis. Was it completely pretty and as fluid as it could be...no not all all. Changes need to happen but we need to give these officials a pat on the back for their hard work. We tend to blame someone when anything bad happens but it is unfair to think that evacautions and distasters go the way that they are planned out. It is alot of people thinking on their feet and dealing with problems inside a master plan. Hopeful they have learned a lot and will be better prepared for the next one.

BECKERS

sherilo · #8 Oct 10, '05, 8:44 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by pnewton

I personally am making preparations to protect me and my family in place without reliance on government help. I believe this is more the spirit of Texas than asking to have my hand held.

Glad to see you say that. My family and I were stuck in that mess of an evacuation. We made a little better time than some at first by using surface streets. As a matter of fact, my son and his girlfriend left three hours before us and he saw us go by him on the feeder by Baybrook Mall. He was in a caravan of three other cars on 45. We will be investing in a key map or a highly detailed map so that we can take responsibility for our own safety instead of being led like cattle. Because, in spite of the best intentions of those who told us what roads to take and forced us to stay on those roads, being out there on that highway stuck like that was a helpless, vulnerable feeling that we will not repeat.

Peace,
Sheri