Senobia wrote:Galveston's calling for a voluntary evac at noon for the west side of the island. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5993388.html
and from NBC5i.com:
Texas Evacuations To Begin
Texas emergency officials are taking no chances with the lives of people who have special medical needs and are in the path of Hurricane Ike.
Officials in Brazoria County, Texas, have issued some evacuation orders as Hurricane Ike moves toward the Gulf Coast, KPRC-TV in Houston reported.
A mandatory evacuation has been ordered for 10 a.m. Wednesday for residents just south of Houston and all people who have special medical needs and are in the path of Hurricane Ike.
Some residents of the Corpus Christi area will be put on buses Wednesday morning and taken to San Antonio. State troopers and local police also will guide traffic along an evacuation route.
Emergency officials also are getting ready to evacuate 1 million people from the impoverished Rio Grande Valley. They've lined up nearly 1,000 buses in case they're needed to move out the many poor and elderly people who have no cars.
Federal authorities said they won't check people's immigration status at evacuation loading zones or inland checkpoints. But residents said they were skeptical.
One reason for the skepticism came in May. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the Border Patrol would do nothing to impede an evacuation in the event of a hurricane. But when Hurricane Dolly struck the Rio Grande Valley in late July, no mandatory evacuation was ordered. The Border Patrol kept its checkpoints open and agents caught a vanload of illegal immigrants.
In Galveston, Texas, Justin Presnal is getting his home ready for yet another potential punch from Mother Nature, KPRC reported.
"I guess that's sort of the price you pay for living down here," said Presnal. "It does get sort of old when you don't know what's going to happen. It's a little tiring."
Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas told residents to get ready.
"Galveston will be on alert," said Thomas. "We are not relaxing any of our plans."
Her team especially warned Galveston's West End residents that they are not protected by the seawall.
"It is the most vulnerable area to flooding," City Manager Steve LeBlanc said. "Although we are not asking anyone to evacuate yet, we are anticipating the possibility."
They could ask for voluntary evacuations as early as Wednesday morning.
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