Dean: Evac Topic

[oyster_reef]

I think the title needs to be expanded to LA and all of TX.

or simply "Dean Evac Topic"

[BeaumontHorn]

I leave for Dallas early Sat morning, unrelated to the storm, but nice to know already have hotel room there should wife and kids need to evac dont have to worry about finding a place to stay. Even if no hotel room family has a 300 acre ranch north of Waco that used to be a bed/breakfast so definitely have options on places to stay. The suck part for us would be that I took off 5 days this past week from Dallas to go to New Orleans for my step-mother's funeral, and then potentially having to come back here to help pack stuff etc to evac since wife had a stroke last new years and shouldnt do all that herself so having to possibly fight the contra flow to get here and then go back thru it to get back to Dallas or Waco.

[JessRomero]

Wow I have never been on a weather site like this till Rita hit us in 2005 I will tell you something Dean has me and alot of other people in the beaumont port arthur area nervous... I got a bad feeling Dean is goin to pull a Rita... I have two little kids a 2yr old and a 7 month old and things are goin to be rough for a evactuation in this area and I am just trying to get a fix on when we would need to evactuate the stores down here are already selling a bunch of stuff and my dh has the generator cleaned up and ready to go with us when we leave... I just hope the cities are up to par on evact now it was CRAZY here DOES any one have a idea when a evcat would be called so i can get a idea of when i can leave ahead of time???

[x-y-no]

I think the title needs to be expanded to LA and all of TX.

or simply "Dean Evac Topic"

Good idea. Will do.

[JenBayles]

I don't believe it. I had to make a quickie grocery run for cleaning supplies, and you woud not believe the panic buying already in progress here in west Houston. Unbelievable.

[BeaumontHorn]

have heard one person say thru sources in Beaumont area that if Dean continues on a possible track to the TX/LA border they may start calling for evacuations here as early as Sunday night with the speed of the storm and to guarantee everyone having time to go and not end up with the 20-24 hour trips there were when Rita came calling.

[baygirl_1]

I don't believe it. I had to make a quickie grocery run for cleaning supplies, and you woud not believe the panic buying already in progress here in west Houston. Unbelievable.

If they watched Fox News this afternoon, it's no wonder! I checked there to get info about the miners in Utah and was greeted with "HURRICANE DEAN HEADING FOR TEXAS COAST." I flipped the channel in disgust. They are whipping people into a frenzy. I mean, they should've at least prefaced it with, "SOME MODELS SAY... HURRICANE DEAN HEADING FOR..." But, that wouldn't be as much fun for them, I guess. Yes, it's good to be prepared, but it's not time to panic. (Sorry... I am home with bronchitis and laryngitis and guess I'm frustrated in general right now. I've probably been watching too much hurricane stuff. Kids will be home from my sisters' in about an hour and will provide a good distraction. I'll step off my soapbox.)

[jabman98]

Still plenty of water left at my local Walgreens - which was surprisingly quiet and empty when I was just there to pick up a prescription. They had moved the water into one of those center-aisle displays though. Parking lot was busy - probably for the local Kroger next door.

Reminds me of the Rita craziness, and then she didn't do much damage in Houston at all. All those poor folks east got hit so hard.

[BeaumontHorn]

the Beaumont newspaper is reporting that if there is a mandatory evacuation that the state is going to close I-10 eastbound just east of Houston so that no additional traffic comes into the Beaumont area thus interfering with Beaumont residents trying to evacuate if necessary.

[Stratosphere747]

While normally I would caution the hype that is being led by not only the media, but even some of our overzealous posters here at S2k for a storm in the Eastern Caribbean, the issue with Dean is the speed of his movement. This is causing OEM's across the state to step up the process somewhat.

Another thing to keep in mind is that we are going into a "summertime" weekend where many folks will (despite the rain) be doing activities away from news sources. It's better to already to have Dean in the back of your mind.

Evacs if needed may be called as soon as Monday.

[Sambucol]

regarding evacuation:
I called the Baytown Police Dept to get some clarification about evacuation procedures. If you are traveling north on 146 through Baytown, you will be directed by law enforcement onto Interstate 10 west. You will not be allowed past I 10 via 146 north. I asked if my shelter was in Mont Belvieu, would I be allowed to travel past I 10. The answer was no. Then the officer told me 146 south was reserved for evacuees out of Beaumont, Dayton, etc. I was under the impression 146 south would be contraflow. Those evacuees, too, will be directed onto I 10 west. (in my opinion, I don't see how directing all these people onto I 10 west is going to relieve traffic congestion. IMO, this will be a nightmare) No one will be allowed onto I 10 east from 146. This will be in place when an evacuation goes into effect. Therefore, the officer said if I wanted to get to my shelter on 146 north past I 10, I would have to leave prior to an evacuation going into effect. So, you may want to check with your local pd or emergency management people to find out your route and if contraflow will be enforced. If you think you are going to be able to pick your route after an evacuation is ordered, you may be wrong. If you can, your best bet would be to leave early if you know the storm is headed your way.

[BeaumontHorn]

Thats where I get pissy about evac orders.... no one *wants* to leave their homes, if I'm staying in town for a storm for whatever reason I'm not going to leave my house for a shelter until the order comes down. IMO what law enforcement should do is a whole media blitz...saying at such and such time there will be a mandatory evacuation called for and then starting at such and such time you will not be allowed to travel on a certain road in a certain direction. What law enforcements fails to realize sometimes is that there are some who have other family members to consider who dont want to leave their homes either and thus you need time to get from point A to point B to pick up a family member in order to evacuate. But thats just me.

[Steve H.]

Seems a bit early for the panic/frenzy up to LA. I would wait until 18Z tomorrow to get excited, particularly since only the GFDL puts it up into LA/east TX. We probably won't have a decent idea until Sunday though. People should have supplies on hand anyway during the hurricane season

[Roxy]

I felt more in danger and vulnerable trying to evacuate from rita than had I just stayed home.

I totally agree with this.

I already got water and batteries and food and DH is headed to Home Depot for plywood tonight. Early maybe, but I would rather be prepared now than waiting in line for 6 hours later. I have no problem hanging onto these supplies for next time I need them.

I was pretty surprised at how many people were buying water...I guess I wasn't the only one with the idea.

[soney]

I'm a little closer to the current model trends, just south of San Antonio, 120 miles inland from Corpus Christi.

I'd really like to ask for recommendations as to what might be needed that I'm not thinking of, especially with a soon to be 1 year old with me for this hurricane season. I know the obvious such as water, first aid, baby food, formula, canned goods, etc. I've perused the prep boards extensively since 2005. Should I think about boarding up? We never have before but well, this storm is making me very nervous.

We wouldn't be evacuating. It's kind of hard to know what kind of problems we would have with a monster like this, should it turn our way. I'm just trying to think of everything I can, especially since my in-laws and family don't believe in hurricane preparedness unless I bug them to do it.

Thanks ya'll!

[tracyswfla]

I'm a little closer to the current model trends, just south of San Antonio, 120 miles inland from Corpus Christi.

I'd really like to ask for recommendations as to what might be needed that I'm not thinking of, especially with a soon to be 1 year old with me for this hurricane season. I know the obvious such as water, first aid, baby food, formula, canned goods, etc. I've perused the prep boards extensively since 2005. Should I think about boarding up? We never have before but well, this storm is making me very nervous.

We wouldn't be evacuating. It's kind of hard to know what kind of problems we would have with a monster like this, should it turn our way. I'm just trying to think of everything I can, especially since my in-laws and family don't believe in hurricane preparedness unless I bug them to do it.

Thanks ya'll!

Hi! If you can swing it get a generator, especially with a baby, you can warm the formula,etc.

[KBBOCA]

If you can't afford a generator, one very handy device is a car power inverter. You can plug it into your cigarette lighter (or special outlets if you have a newer model car). That way you can recharge cell phones or laptops if you are without power for an extended period of time. They're available at radio shack and many other places. I seem to recall the one I bought with several outlets was about $40.

Also make sure you have a non-wireless phone. (i.e. one that does not to be plugged in to electric power to work). I knew many many friends in FL in 2004 who didn't lose phone service in Frances or Jeanne but did lose power, thus they couldn't use their phones.

Don't forget extra cash since ATMs and Creditcard registers will be down if there's no power.

[JessRomero]

I know it seems so early for us to be worrying about this but when u got kids that r young u tend to not want to sit in HOT traffic and for 24 hours they already unhappy being strapped in A/C so just imagine. I just hope we r not getting to worried for nothing I hope evact goes better this time around if Dean is headed this way. Any ideas on when the Volunteer evact would be called here??? I am in the beamount area i would like to leave then instead of the mandatory one??

[Roxy]

Don't forget a manual can opener....the 'lectric ones don't work with no power.

[rainman31]

The way they are leading with it on the news you would think they already knew it was coming here. I did the evacuation last time and was on the road for 12 ours and only made it to the Woodlands,then turned around a went home. This time I am going to shelter in place and ride it out.