Galveston - possible mand. evac at 5PM

[gboudx]

Good post AFM. How many times did my family and most other people in SELA evacuate needlessly in the past 3-4 years, prior to Katrina? Probably 2 or 3 times. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound(or ton) of cure.

[Air Force Met]

Good post AFM. How many times did my family and most other people in SELA evacuate needlessly in the past 3-4 years, prior to Katrina? Probably 2 or 3 times. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound(or ton) of cure.

Another way to look at it is this:

For $500.00-$1000.00 about the cost of evacuating if you don't have family to stay with)...would you play Russian Roulette with a 6 shooter? Why not? You've got a 5 in 6 chance you'll be OK.

I look at major hurricanes the same way. OK...maybe you left needlessly...but if the chambered round does come your way...least you won't be there.

[simplykristi]

If I lived in SE TX, I would have evacuated. I would rather be safe than sorry.

Kristi

[wxmann_91]

Gosh, that scared me, I thought Galveston was being evacuated again!

Anyway, I agree with you Kristi. It's better to be safe than sorry. But the accidents that took place on the roadways - that part I didn't like.

[simplykristi]

I think that the traffic situation could have been handled much better than it was. Contra-flow should have started as soon as the mandatory evacuations were started.

Kristi

[GalvestonDuck]

I agree. And there should have been a number of places to merge into the contraflow. Traffic flowed fine until about exit 14 or so on I-45. Then it was gridlock because of the Houston problem.

It was crazy hearing people from Katy gripe, "I've been on this road for 3 hours trying to get out of Houston!!" when people from Galveston had been on the road for 18 trying to get to the same point.

[susan]

Yeah...I think people need to understand it is the storm surge which initially prompts the evacuations. Storm surges dont reach Katy and Conroe...

[therock1811]

I agree. And there should have been a number of places to merge into the contraflow. Traffic flowed fine until about exit 14 or so on I-45. Then it was gridlock because of the Houston problem.

It was crazy hearing people from Katy gripe, "I've been on this road for 3 hours trying to get out of Houston!!" when people from Galveston had been on the road for 18 trying to get to the same point.

That is crazy.

I personally can't believe we're still debating this one week later.

[Roxy]

I agree. And there should have been a number of places to merge into the contraflow. Traffic flowed fine until about exit 14 or so on I-45. Then it was gridlock because of the Houston problem.

It was crazy hearing people from Katy gripe, "I've been on this road for 3 hours trying to get out of Houston!!" when people from Galveston had been on the road for 18 trying to get to the same point.

That is crazy.

I personally can't believe we're still debating this one week later.

Well about 20 people died on the road trying to get out, so it does need to be discussed.

[therock1811]

Sorry. I snapped, had a lot going on lately. But yeah it probably should be discussed...but there's no need for debate. Galveston officials did what they felt was necessary, and it worked...everyone that wanted to go, was gone when it hit, and no one died. Of course, that won't be the case in a 5, but this time, no one that I'm aware of died in Galveston.

[Roxy]

Sorry. I snapped, had a lot going on lately. But yeah it probably should be discussed...but there's no need for debate. Galveston officials did what they felt was necessary, and it worked...everyone that wanted to go, was gone when it hit, and no one died. Of course, that won't be the case in a 5, but this time, no one that I'm aware of died in Galveston.

Sorry, I didn't meant for that to sound combative at all. Just that they released the news about the people dieing on the road today and it's pretty disheartening.

[susan]

Well, I guess people who did not get stuck in a 2 million car traffic jam that took some people 10 hours to get 10 miles could not comprehend what really happened that day. I know I would have a difficult time trying to wrap my head around that one had I not lived it myself....No debate really, we all agree things need to change before next time.

[CajunMama]

I agree. And there should have been a number of places to merge into the contraflow. Traffic flowed fine until about exit 14 or so on I-45. Then it was gridlock because of the Houston problem.

It was crazy hearing people from Katy gripe, "I've been on this road for 3 hours trying to get out of Houston!!" when people from Galveston had been on the road for 18 trying to get to the same point.

That is crazy.

I personally can't believe we're still debating this one week later.

It's still being discussed because something has to be done. You haven't been through or witnessed an evacuaton like this. And for our members who had to sit on the interstate hours and hours, it's a good way to vent their frustrations. And like Roxy said, when you have people dying on the side of the road, it DOES need to be discussed.

[GalvestonDuck]

I agree. And there should have been a number of places to merge into the contraflow. Traffic flowed fine until about exit 14 or so on I-45. Then it was gridlock because of the Houston problem.

It was crazy hearing people from Katy gripe, "I've been on this road for 3 hours trying to get out of Houston!!" when people from Galveston had been on the road for 18 trying to get to the same point.

That is crazy.

I personally can't believe we're still debating this one week later.

It's still being discussed because something has to be done. You haven't been through or witnessed an evacuaton like this. And for our members who had to sit on the interstate hours and hours, it's a good way to vent their frustrations. And like Roxy said, when you have people dying on the side of the road, it DOES need to be discussed.

Yup, plus some of us just got back to our homes in the past couple of days. We haven't had time to gather all our thoughts and vent about it or tell our tales. My experiences were minor compared to some, but I still need to rest my brain before I really get into it all. I'm sure there are others who also want to express everything but just can't yet -- those who had it much worse.

Just trying to get back into work mode and feel normal. I feel guilty saying that, as if things are a mess here or something. They're not...we were lucky. But it's still not quite normal here...not like it was...not life as we knew it.

[therock1811]

Let me just point out that I don't think Galveston didn't do the right thing. They did. I just can't believe some are still asking, "How early is too early and how late is too late?" I don't mean to sound like I don't support this discussion, because certainly I do. BUT...the matter should be how to get people out, not when. That's what I meant.

Maybe I should just keep my big mouth shut for a while because I can't seem to say what I want to clearly. I'm sorry.

[GalvestonDuck]

Let me just point out that I don't think Galveston didn't do the right thing. They did. I just can't believe some are still asking, "How early is too early and how late is too late?" I don't mean to sound like I don't support this discussion, because certainly I do. BUT...the matter should be how to get people out, not when. That's what I meant.

Maybe I should just keep my big mouth shut for a while because I can't seem to say what I want to clearly. I'm sorry.

No, you're okay...we're just discussing it further with ya to help other understand where we're coming from and I think we understood where you were coming from. Before last week, I didn't quite understand it all myself. It's different once you experience it. We're just coming from different trains of thought right now and I'm probably not always being too clear either (like I said, still fatigued and brain-drained), plus I haven't caught up on all the discussions and thread that I missed while evac'd.

It's all cool.

[therock1811]

OK we're cool now. And I understand what you're saying. Cajun is right, I've never had to do that before. I probably will have to one of these days. I don't completely understand the situation, but I know enough to know that if something isn't working, you fix it. And the current plans didn't quite work this time. Your region, and the US as a whole, needs to improve on this sort of thing.

[GalvestonDuck]

wow...i guess overreactions are to be expected after katrina...but its entirely too early and unnecessary to order mandatory evacuations today.

Here's another reason why we evacuate early -- This morning, after the heavy rains we had last night, two of the three outbound lanes of the Causeway are flooded, leaving only the left-hand lane access onto the Causeway.

If we are threatened by a hurricane here on the island and we wait too late to evacuate, we run the risk of even more traffic problems because the Causeway could become flooded by the first rainbands that move onshore long before landfall.

(This is the second time in as many weeks that the Causeway has flooded there. Of course, they're building a new one so chances are good that it's not a problem we'll have to tolerate for much longer.)

[jeff]

My view on the whole situation is that if you choose to live on the coast, then you must be willing to evacuate and have nothing happen and you must be willing to go through this process multiple times.

[GalvestonDuck]

My view on the whole situation is that if you choose to live on the coast, then you must be willing to evacuate and have nothing happen and you must be willing to go through this process multiple times.

No problem with that.

I just have a problem with those who try to criticize us for doing it.