My fear for Houston

[jasons2k]

Well, the problem in the Houston area was people who lived in zones not in the path of a storm surge evacuated at the same time as people along the coast. For instance, people in Kingwood evacuated but they are 75' above sea level. But people in Kingwood live in a forest and I imagine Cat 4 winds would have had every house with a tree on it or through it. Parts of Houston flood during a thunderstorm so even though they may not be impacted by the actual storm surge, they would have been flooded anyway. So for us it is not a clean cut as to who should leave and who should stay. It is scary to think about, really.

More like Cat 1. TS winds did significant tree damage up here in Spring, near The Woodlands.

From what I hear now Indian Shores, near Crosby, the back section along the Lake Houston shoreline had MUCH worse tree damage.

[susan]

Exactly my point. While we from the coast are running from the obvious storm surge, those further inland have to deal with wind damage and some flooding as well. It is hard to tell people not to leave. Now, if we are threatened with a Cat 1 or 2, I will stay put but anything over that, I am outta here and will not hold a grudge for those guys up north for leaving as well....

[cajungal]

The same goes for Terrebonne Parish (the Houma area) I am surprized on how many people did not leave for Katrina. If Katrina would of just veered 50 miles to the west and hit either Port Fourchon head on or go up Terrebonne Bay, we could look like the MS coast right now. We never left for a storm before, but we did leave for Katrina. My parents freaked when it became 175 mph and did not want to take any chances. We luckily knew all the back roads and it was clear sailing. It took almost 3 hours to get from our home to my aunt and uncle's home in Ville Platte. That is not bad. But, hardly any of my family left. We left behind my grandpa who is 83 years old and never leaves no matter what the threat is. Plus, numerous aunts, uncles and cousins stayed. So, I stayed worried the whole time about my family that was left to ride it out in SE Louisiana. Everyone wants to take HWY 90 to leave, and that is why it becomes so clogged. It is helpful if you know the back roads out like we did. I talked to so many people and half stayed in Terrebonne Parish for Katrina.

And we see what happened what Rita. Rita hit almost 185 miles to our west but still caused severe flooding just below Houma. It is a miracle that nobody drowned in Terrebonne Parish due to Rita.

[Stormtrack]

I still plan on evacuating if the storm is bad enough but will follow my own plan, not the city or state plan. We spent over 11 hours on the Beltway alone, I would guess no more than about 25 miles in record heat and without bathroom facilities. Then we got on US 290 and it wasn't much better. You can't merge people going to different destinations onto the same roadways. To make matters worse, people instead of staying in the same 2 lanes on the Beltway would spread out into the extra lanes at the toll booths and then have to merge back after the booths. There were no barricades to prevent them from doing so. I don't like the Beltway anyway and will never use it again. The governor can keep his plan. It's not for me.

[hicksta]

I live on the bay. I was supposed to leave and did so. People further north panicked and left the same time the coastal people left. Was it a problem? You bet. But I fail to see how city officials could have kept Bob from Katy from leaving when he was not supposed to and how they could be blamed for Bob in Katy or Sue in TheWoodlands or Pete from Sugar Land leaving at the wrong time..How do we prevent these folks from leaving??? I mean, the Governor down to local guys have begged us not to come home yet if we live below I-10 and east of I-45 but people did and schools in that zone will be open Wednesday and my company (also in the "do not come back until further notice") opened today and expect everyone to be there tomorrow. Would you not call that a mixed message? I live on Galveston bay, was asked not to come back until further notice but my child is expected to be in school Wednesday and I am expected to be back at work Tuesday.

Exactly, people left that did not need to.

[wlfpack81]

If Houston finally does get a direct hit from a Cat 3, 4 (maybe 5) it will be nasty b/c most aren't going to leave after this mess. With possible 1mil or slightly more staying it could get ugly. I just hope next time they hammer in the fact that not everyone in the city needs to leave, just those in the surge zones and possible those who live in the 100yr flood planes (maybe 500yr flood plane if a Cat 5 came right up Galveston Bay or moves wnw staying just south of the Bay).

[susan]

People in the storm surge/flood zone area need to get out first. Someone who lives 75 miles inland needs to wait until the evacuations are done to the south of them. They tried to stagger the mandatory evac to help with traffic. A lot of good that did when people inland evacuated at the same time. I don't think there will be a "correct" way to have people evacuate from an area with this many people. Everyone was scared and almost everyone left...

[stormie_skies]

If Houston finally does get a direct hit from a Cat 3, 4 (maybe 5) it will be nasty b/c most aren't going to leave after this mess. With possible 1mil or slightly more staying it could get ugly. I just hope next time they hammer in the fact that not everyone in the city needs to leave, just those in the surge zones and possible those who live in the 100yr flood planes (maybe 500yr flood plane if a Cat 5 came right up Galveston Bay or moves wnw staying just south of the Bay).

Exactly. There needs to be a better system that would allow those of us who live in storm surge prone areas to get out quickly and safely. I'm not saying that people further north should be forced to stay in their homes or anything ... but people need to understand that those of us in "danger zones" face mandatory evacs for a reason. I think it would be good for the city and the state to work on a more organized version of the phased evac they used in Galveston County - but for the metro as a whole and more strictly enforced.

A couple other things I think need some work:

IMO there is NO EXCUSE for the fact that TXDOT did not have a solid plan for contraflow before this evacuation began. It doesnt take a genius to figure out that there will be traffic congestion if you try to evacuate 2 million + people on our highway system when you can hardly get from point A to point B during regular rush hour traffic. There needs to be a comprehensive contraflow plan that can be implemented at a moments notice so that we can get as many people as possible to safety.

Also, I didn't completely understand the point of blocking off certain exits and on ramps along the evac paths. There were many people who wanted to evacuate to higher ground within the metro but didn't because they were under the impression that routes within the city would be closed, or who had a harder time getting to destinations within the city because police blocked certain routes and side roads. While Katy may not be the safest place to be during a hurricane strike, it sure as heck is safer than being in Bayou Vista... and the more people we can get out of the most vulnerable parts of town and onto higher ground, the better.

[susan]

Yeah, I made sure to be out during the voluntary evacuations so I could get off the road at Spring. Not as safe as Austin or Dallas but I was only interested in outrunning a storm surge. But parts of Houston were in danger as well with overflowing bayous such as White Oak, Sims, Braes, Buffalo and others so they needed to leave too. There is no way to enforce when people leave. The local and state governments need to figure out a way to utilize the roads in a better way next time.

[GalvestonDuck]

You don't have to tell me twice -- I'm gone again if need be.

[Roxy]

I agree that many left that didn't need to. We are barely in Zone C the last evac zone and I'm not leaving next time.

[hicksta]

I agree that many left that didn't need to. We are barely in Zone C the last evac zone and I'm not leaving next time.

Yea im in flood B. Right on clear lake

[Roxy]

I agree that many left that didn't need to. We are barely in Zone C the last evac zone and I'm not leaving next time.

Yea im in flood B. Right on clear lake

Then unfortunately, you don't have a choice but to go. We are closer in, near Ellington Field.

I believe the Zone C map is very conservative.

[hicksta]

Very true, but we are only leaving if its a 4/5. If it is a 1/2/3. Then we are going to friends house 20 feet above sea level and ridin her out.

[jasons2k]

Very true, but we are only leaving if its a 4/5. If it is a 1/2/3. Then we are going to friends house 20 feet above sea level and ridin her out.

I'll tell you what though, I rode out Rita in Spring and that was QUITE enough for me! We had many trees down in our neighborhood and our clubhouse/pool center was virtually destroyed from falling trees - all from TS force winds. I would NOT want to be here for full-blown hurricane-force winds, that's for darn sure.

[GalvestonDuck]

I couldn't believe all the debris piles we passed on the way back home. We drove *through* Houston on backroads and through neighborhoods -- much faster than driving on I-45. Everywhere we looked there were piles of tree branches, wood, and other debris in every yard.

[melhow]

I couldn't believe all the debris piles we passed on the way back home. We drove *through* Houston on backroads and through neighborhoods -- much faster than driving on I-45. Everywhere we looked there were piles of tree branches, wood, and other debris in every yard.

Sounds like you had the same exterior decorators that FL employed last year....

[simplykristi]

I thin k that the people who are going to be directly impacted by storm surge should be evacuated first. Then the zones go.

Contraflow needs to be set up early in the evacuation process, especially when there are large population areas. Waiting until two days into mandatory evacs to do contraflow is not going to cut it.

It's easy for me to say this since I don't live in a coastal community. But, after watching and readin g about evacuations a lot recently, I have had time to sit and make observations.

Kristi

[Ixolib]

I keep seeing all these posts about "evacuating surge zones" first... My question to the authors of these posts is this. After this year's results of Katrina and Rita, how on earth do you define a "surge zone"?

If you're basing it on history, please think again. There are thousands of homes here on the MS Coast that were severely damaged or destroyed by surge - and a huge percentage of them were in a supposed "no surge zone" - myself included. Any history that exists for a particular coastal area has now been proven obsolete. Because the rules have changed, please don't base your evacuation plans on "zone maps" that were drawn up long ago.

The fact of the matter is this. Until your area is hit by an extreme storm bringing with it an unprecedented surge, it will be very difficult to determine what the result will be. And even then, there's no assurance. The next storm could be even bigger and stronger. After that, the lines will have to be drawn again.

[wxman57]

Very true, but we are only leaving if its a 4/5. If it is a 1/2/3. Then we are going to friends house 20 feet above sea level and ridin her out.

A question -- since you'll have to evacuate 2-3 days before the hurricane hits, how are you going to be able to tell that today's strong TS or Cat 1 won't be tomorrow's or the next day's Cat 5? We just can't predict intensity well 2-3 days out when you'll have to make that decision. So if you're in a surge zone (as you are), then you'll need to go even with a strong TS 2-3 days out. If you wait until the day it hits to make your decision to evacuate when it strengthens to that Cat 3-4-5 then you'll be dead.