Evacuation question

[MuleChewingBriars]

Looking at the nightmare that occurred on 1-45, I-10, and US-59 out of Houston, I have a question.

Last year, when it appeared that Hurricane Frances was going to strike Central Florida as a Cat 4, we decided to evacuate. Leaving Melbourne at 3pm, we didn't get on the Florida Turnpike, but rather took back roads all the way to Lake City near the Georgia line, and we didn't see a soul. We made good time and arrived in Lake City before 10pm.

In Lake City, we got on I-75, and immediately we were in bumper-to-bumper traffic and it took us another 4 hours to get to Valdosta just 45 miles up the road. We kept hearing on the radio that there were people who had stayed on the turnpike from West Palm, Jupiter, Stuart, etc. and it had taken them 12 hours to get to Orlando, then another 12 hours to get to Valdosta. I left I-75 then and took a state road to Moultrie, then Troy.

By sunrise, I was in Birmingham, Alabama. Why don't more people do this, and take the stress off the main roads?

[flashflood]

I often wondered about that myself, but I am not surprised though. I have friends who have no idea that they can take US27 out of S. Floida, and they have been here for years. Also, some of them can't even read a map correctly and thus I always end up being the navigator on long trips.

[HurricaneQueen]

My planned evacuation route is up Rt. 27 and aways has been (long before 75 was built). However, I'm afraid that everyone and their brother would have the same idea and a gridlock in the middle of nowhere could be an even bigger disaster. Certainly, there wouldn't be any tankers out there if you ran out of gas and many parts of it are pretty desolate unless things have chnaged in the last few years.

I would avoid the Interstates at all costs, if possible. (Unfortunately, In S. Fl. the only way out is North!!!!

Lynn

[inotherwords]

I took the back roads to evacuate for Charley, going over to the east coast through Arcadia and then down to Miami and also had no traffic anywhere. I left in the middle of the night before the storm hit, too, so it was pretty late in the game.

My theory about this, though, is that Houston is the 4th largest city in the US, and that would make a difference by itself right there because of sheer volume and capacity. I used to live in Houston 20 years ago and the traffic was insane back then. Freeways were parking lots between 6 and 9 a.m. and 3 and 7 p.m. And it's only gotten worse since I moved away. But also I think more people now are in the mindset to evacuate after seeing what happened with Katrina. I'd bet you any amount of money that if a Cat 4 or 5 was bearing down on Melbourne now, the traffic out of town would be horrendous on any road of any size because more people would be leaving than left last year. And if you looked at a metro area like Miami or Tampa, it would be worse because of the volume and capacity thing.

What terrifies me now is if we have a storm coming our way yet this season, what with the gas shortage and everyone in panic mode. It could be really horrible.

[inotherwords]

My planned evacuation route is up Rt. 27 and aways has been (long before 75 was built). However, I'm afraid that everyone and their brother would have the same idea and a gridlock in the middle of nowhere could be an even bigger disaster. Certainly, there wouldn't be any tankers out there if you ran out of gas and many parts of it are pretty desolate unless things have chnaged in the last few years.

I would avoid the Interstates at all costs, if possible. (Unfortunately, In S. Fl. the only way out is North!!!!

Lynn

Lynn, up 27 would also take you near Lake Okeechobee, which could be a very bad place to be in a high category storm. It might be a good idea to rethink this or at least leave early enough so you would not get stuck near the lake.