Accu-weather: NE US and Upper TX Coast a Target

[skysummit]

Leaving after the storm? Hmm......you're right about the damage, it all depends. The one problem I had driving around after Katrina was roofing nails! I lost count on how many tires I had to change because of roofing nails. Also...this was wierd, but on the MGC, I had fish bones sticking through my tires.

[Audrey2Katrina]

I guess I had never really thought it through, but in most cases is it possible to leave after the storm? I had always figured if you gassed the car before the storm, and could drive it then you could find a way out afterwards. I suppose it depends on the damage though

Were the damage bad enough, they'd probably encourage those remaining to leave--like they did here; but there were navigability issues, lots of cars/trucks picking up roofing nails in what streets were passable, etc. etc... military everywhere, (which was comforting--actually) curfews... not a fun time.

A2K

[Audrey2Katrina]

Leaving after the storm? Hmm......you're right about the damage, it all depends. The one problem I had driving around after Katrina was roofing nails! I lost count on how many tires I had to change because of roofing nails. Also...this was wierd, but on the MGC, I had fish bones sticking through my tires.

Okay, redundancy alert... Should'a read a little further before my response--but at least we can see that this posed a real problem.

A2K

[Extremeweatherguy]

Another thing about have a city of 3 million people with most staying is the weeks afterwards. What if the power is out for weeks at a time? You'll have TONS of people who are not used to it, TONS of people who didn't have enough, or the proper supplies to survive, and therefore, most likely TONS of incidents of crime.

That's why you keep extra ammo in your supply kit.

I guess I had never really thought it through, but in most cases is it possible to leave after the storm? I had always figured if you gassed the car before the storm, and could drive it then you could find a way out afterwards. I suppose it depends on the damage though.

If there was minimal damages and the reason you want to leave is because of lack of power/water...then yes I would say you should probably leave. If on the other hand the damages are bad...then it may be nearly impossible to leave. Here is an idea of what roads "may" look like after a strong storm impacts Houston:

http://www.lakegovernment.com/hurricane ... s_road.jpg
http://graphics.boston.com:80/bonzai-fb ... 1_4103.jpg
http://www.yaledailynews.com/images/9_6 ... 231947.jpg
http://www.co.hanover.va.us/pio/emergency_damage_3.jpg
http://www.baltimoresun.com/media/photo ... 485959.jpg
http://www.floridacapitalnews.com/hurri ... 2power.jpg
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/media/ph ... 189035.jpg
http://www.high-techproductions.com/Wilma_54b.JPG

Trying to get around by car in those kind of conditions may be quite tough. Also, with all the billboards and buildings that are around the Houston area...many other debris will also be on the roads; including metal roofing, bricks, aluminum siding, parts of billboards, glass, etc.

[MGC]

I've talked with many people that Katrina nearly killed. All of them to the person said that their home had survived Camille and thus wrongly concluded that they were safe. Many of these people were not here for Camille but had been told that the home they were in was safe. That is the reasoning I used to conclude that Camille killed more people in 2005 than 1969. The house I'm living in didn't flood during Camille but I didn't take any chances with Katrina. I knew the surge would be bad because Katrina had a much larger wind field than Camille. Katrina is the only hurricane I have ever considered evacuating for and I'm glad I did.....MGC

[ROCK]

The Houston area isn't New Orleans though, you have to remember that.

Well having lived here, and been to Houston dozens of times, I'm only too acutely aware of that. And at least I, for one, was not drawing an analogy between the two cities regarding their ultimate fate--for one thing there would never be the level of flooding--that wasn't my point at all. But you get enough people staying in a metro area of something over 3 million people sticking around to ride out a fast moving high end 4, possibly 5 (because of their bad experience with the Rita evac etc.) and you have a potentially equal death toll and SOME areas along the bay edges could/would get flooding--the damage would be enormous and, I dunno, I just think they'd wish they had evacuated after the fact. Hindsight is always 20-20. But as another has pointed out earlier, most of the times you'll have evacuated for something you needn't have--but it's like playing a game of Russian roullette, sooner or later, you're going to be faced with the wrong chamber.

A2K

Living here all my life, I don't think Houston /Galveston residents are complancent at all after Rita. We know when to get out of town, especially Galveston residents and the small towns in between. Every person I have talked to on the west end would leave again if another Rita was bearing down on them.

We have evacuation plans in place for all levels of storms not to mention our new improved plans to improve traffic flows. We are prepared for the next one.

[Audrey2Katrina]

Living here all my life, I don't think Houston /Galveston residents are complancent at all after Rita. We know when to get out of town, especially Galveston residents and the small towns in between. Every person I have talked to on the west end would leave again if another Rita was bearing down on them.

I'm very glad to hear that, it's always best to be prepared and prudent in the face of one of these storms. The only reason for the post was in responding to an earlier post wherein the individual stated that after last year, they wouldn't leave for anything short of a 5, and maybe not for that.

A2K