Evacs may be mandatory for Galveston

[GalvestonDuck]

http://galvestondailynews.com/story.las ... fdde7b7852

GALVESTON — If local officials call for an evacuation during this year’s hurricane season, it won’t be a suggestion.

“If the governor signs a bill that is now on his desk, we’re not going to recommend an evacuation, we’re going to order it,” Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas told those gathered for the island’s annual hurricane town meeting.

She predicted that the governor would sign the measure today, the official start of the 2005 hurricane season.

“We’re not going to do it unless we absolutely have to,” she said.

And even then, no one is going to go door-to-door to make sure everyone leaves.

Still, once an evacuation order is in place, the options for folks living in the evacuation area begin to evaporate. The county’s new traffic plan, for example, will dictate what roads motorists will be able to take and where they’ll be able to go.

“If you live on Galveston Island, you’re going to go north on Interstate 45 to Huntsville,” said Clay Kennely, regional liaison officer for the Department of Public Safety.

Kennely, who had been assigned to Beaumont, was transferred to Galveston in January.

“When I arrived,” he said, “I took a look at the existing traffic plan, and what it looked like to me was somebody said, ‘Everybody get on a road that heads north.’”

What that plan would have generated, he said, was a lot of people driving in circles around Houston.

Kennely’s plan, in the words of County Judge Jim Yarbrough, brings some discipline to the system.

“If you want a choice about where you go or what route you’re going to take, you need to leave before the evacuation order,” Yarbrough said. “After that, you’re not going to have a choice.”

Kennely said police officers would be at major interchanges to make sure that traffic stayed on course.

“We’re not going to let you get off on 146,” he said. “We’re going to kill all the major interchanges in Houston.”

The plan, he said, is designed to allow the evacuation of 1.5 million people in 26 hours.

“The plan is not designed for anyone’s convenience,” he said. “It’s designed to move people in the fastest way possible.”

The goal of the annual meeting is to remind residents of the threat a hurricane can represent and the importance of being ready.

“City government and county government cannot do it for you,” Yarbrough said. “Personal responsibility is key. The folks at this meeting need to go out to your friends, your clubs and your churches and spread the gospel so to speak.”

The event’s organizers encouraged residents to have family meetings to make sure everyone understood the plan.

Kennely offered some statistics that might provide an incentive for anyone who might be thinking about riding out the next major storm.

“These aren’t scare tactics,” he said. “I’m not in the business of scaring people. I’m in the business of providing facts.”

Kennely said that in the event of a 4-foot storm surge, Tiki Island would be underwater.

“During Hurricane Ivan last year, Grand Cayman Island disappeared from weather radar for two and a half hours,” he said. “With a 16-foot storm surge, that’s what would happen to Galveston Island.”

A 19-foot storm surge, he said, would produce extensive flooding as far north as Webster.

[vbhoutex]

Finally they are starting to think before they react!! What I am seeing is making sense. The 2 ways off the island go under water at about 6 feet msl of surge. Even though there is a seawall it does not circle the island so surge does and will get around and over it expecially in the event of a Major Hurricane.

Even though you live on a barrier island you are always welcome at my home Duckie!!!

[GalvestonDuck]

Finally they are starting to think before they react!! What I am seeing is making sense. The 2 ways off the island go under water at about 6 feet msl of surge. Even though there is a seawall it does not circle the island so surge does and will get around and over it expecially in the event of a Major Hurricane.

Even though you live on a barrier island you are always welcome at my home Duckie!!!

LOL! Thanks, David. But if I evacuate, I won't stop until I get to Arlington (unless something stops me before that ).

I've heard stories about how it floods just over the other side of the causeway (near Tiki Island) and so for those who aren't across in time, they're not gonna get across. And of course, San Luis Pass on the west end is only one lane each way and the west end gets the earliest part of the surge (no seawall). I remember driving out there during dinky little Grace and seeing the water way up near the road...and a sign way out on the beach (with water halfway up the signpost) that said, "No vehicles."

And forget getting across on the Ferry. That's reserved for Bolivar residents so they can get back over there, pack it up, and haul it out.

[southerngale]

Kennely came from Beaumont. I hope he did some good here before he went to Galveston. The evacuation for Andrew in 1992 was a nightmare!

[jeff]

He played a big role in the Lili (2002) evacuation.