Houstonians "It will not come here" attitude

[HurricaneGirl]

Alot of people I talk to feel that way about Jacksonville. They think a hurricane can hit everywhere but here because of the curve of the coastline, it will stay out to sea.

[stormcloud]

There is a whole generation now in Houston that has never experienced a major storm. Complacency is rampant. People sit in their living rooms and watch storm damage in those "other places" but sadly it will take another major storm here to wake the people up.

[southerngale]

<P>I have given up on it ever raining in Houston again.<P>I barbecued steaks yesterday without even lighting the grill.<P>I think we got all of the century's rainfall during Allison. That's it. No more for us.

[thetraveler]

Dang, Cape Verde was busy yesterday cooking. I am glad the steaks he cooked turned out ok. He said that he tried to fry an egg on the sidewalk yesterday morning and it burst into a fire ball. ( I almost fell out of my chair on that one) BTW, we got 38 drops of rain AND a clap of thunder hear in Cleveland TX this afternoon. woohoo

[HouTXmetro]

There is a whole generation now in Houston that has never experienced a major storm. Complacency is rampant. People sit in their living rooms and watch storm damage in those "other places" but sadly it will take another major storm here to wake the people up.

That's scary, the metro area is booming around 5 million residents and people are steadily moving closer to the coast.

[Cape Verde]

Dang, Cape Verde was busy yesterday cooking. I am glad the steaks he cooked turned out ok. He said that he tried to fry an egg on the sidewalk yesterday morning and it burst into a fire ball. ( I almost fell out of my chair on that one) BTW, we got 38 drops of rain AND a clap of thunder hear in Cleveland TX this afternoon. woohoo

<P>The steaks turned out to be pretty good, but the eggs were a total loss. I might just head for some fast food tonight, but I'm little self-conscious about my tongue hanging out of my parched lips. It even scares me.

[cajungal]

They say the same thing about southeast Louisiana. They say they it always veers to our east and misses us. They are tired evacuating for nothing and tired of boards their homes for a storm that never comes.

[Swimdude]

You know... Then again, When the NHC has Emily forecasted to reach Galveston... That was about 9 days in advance. At LEAST. It's not like the media is going to cover that. However, I do agree with you. Houstonians are in trouble once OUR "big one" comes.

[deltadog03]

hey she still may come up this way...Isn't there suppose to be a front coming down on like tuesday?? I would tend to think that could pick her up right??

[Roxy]

hey she still may come up this way...Isn't there suppose to be a front coming down on like tuesday?? I would tend to think that could pick her up right??

It's way to early to say where she will go!

[deltadog03]

I know but, it seems like everyone is writing her off...and see when we all do this she is going to become powerfull and very bioootchy

[jax]

As more storms potentially target our area and turn off without even providing decent rain, I am getting more and more concerned that Residents will not heed warnings when we are faced with a real threat. Even when the NHC had the black line going right through Galveston, many people I talked to didn't even know about the storm and the few that did without any knowledge of weather and track had the attitude, 'it's not gonna come here.' This attitude of Houstonians is really starting to concern me. One day, "possibly in the near future" we will be faced with a real threat. By the time residents do realize the severity of the situation I fear it will be too late.

whatever...
Trust me... when the NHC has it's 3 day dot south of Houston or the
surrounding ares... and that dot is red, orange or pink... people
will pay attention. There is no reason for people in Houston to get
overly concerned about a NHC black dot on the Yucatan...

It's perfectly OK and acceptable if they woke up this morning and said
"It won't come here"

[BLHutch]

I wanted to post an anecdote from last hurricane season. I live in League City, though I am a Port Arthur native. I was a firefigher/emt for seven years before going to graduate school. I now teach history at a community college. With that, came the move to League City.

Anyway, I was in the grocery store in the waning days of August 04. The man ahead of me in line was chatting with the clerk. She asked him if he was concerned about the possibility of a storm hitting our area. He said no, and went on to state (with confidence) that a major storm had NEVER hit the area. I could tell by his accent that he was not a native of the Texas coast, or the Gulf Coast at all. But I didn't have the heart to mention the fact that over 6,000 people died in a hurricane not twenty miles from the very spot in which he was standing. (Not to mention the 1915 storm, Carla, etc)

I think you have complacency among the long time residents plus ignorance on the part of the newcomers. I don't mean ignorance in a bad way. How could they know of the destruction potential of a storm without seeing it. Of course, they could choose to educate themselves as to the climate of where they decide to live. So in that way, I guess they are partially responsible. (If I moved to CA, I'd be aware of the earthquake risk)

Anyway, I just thought I'd share that story since it fits with the post.

Brady

[dwg71]

Agreed, I've been through a Hurricane and I sat in my garage in my van crying like a grown man shouldnt, when Allision flooded my home. I'll give it its due, there has not been any real scares in recent years. We will be ready.

[jasons2k]

As more storms potentially target our area and turn off without even providing decent rain, I am getting more and more concerned that Residents will not heed warnings when we are faced with a real threat. Even when the NHC had the black line going right through Galveston, many people I talked to didn't even know about the storm and the few that did without any knowledge of weather and track had the attitude, 'it's not gonna come here.' This attitude of Houstonians is really starting to concern me. One day, "possibly in the near future" we will be faced with a real threat. By the time residents do realize the severity of the situation I fear it will be too late.

whatever...
Trust me... when the NHC has it's 3 day dot south of Houston or the
surrounding ares... and that dot is red, orange or pink... people
will pay attention. There is no reason for people in Houston to get
overly concerned about a NHC black dot on the Yucatan...

It's perfectly OK and acceptable if they woke up this morning and said
"It won't come here"

I'm not one to try and contradict others' postings, but this is one where I do disagree. Pecan, do you live in Texas ( I think you are in MS, correct?). I have lived in Texas since 1988 after moving from Florida. The general attitude here is apathetic. Half the population of the Houston Metro area is post-Alicia. Texans in general feel pretty insulated from the troubles around the rest of the US. Allison gave us a little jolt but it didn't have the wind and surge that would destroy all those NEW beach houses going-up on the west end of Galveston - well beyond where the seawall stops.

Want more? Texas just came out with a "new" evacuation plan for all coastal counties. In it, they said that the freeways in TX were not designed to handle reverse traffic like in FLA or like we just saw in AL. So they use a combination of freeways and secondary roads. In the new plan, it is well documented that many of the secondary evacuation routes are at high risk for flooding well before landfall. I'm just curious - have you read any of this??? Did you happen to also read the HCFCD study on Allison after it hit??

The freeways are already jammed enough. I-45 out of Galveston is a nightmare in the mornings.

When Carla came in the 60's, at that time 1.5 million people evacuated the TX coast - the largest evacuation at the time.

Imagine that today...compounded with the additional population influx since then....then factor-in the apathetic Texan attitude that "it can't happen to us".

IMO a disaster waiting to happen.....

So, before you say "whatever....trust me" you might want to do a little due diligence first!

[GalvestonDuck]

Well said, Brady.

Not everyone knows Galveston is an island, although many know the Glen Campbell song and assume it must be near the water. Not everyone who moves here knows the history of the storm (I didn't until about a year before I moved here). And not everyone who moves to the coast followed hurricane season before moving here. I didn't when I lived in KY. Heck, I thought they were rare for the US. I knew about Andrew (you'd have to be living under a rock to not know) and have a friend who now lives in KY who lived through it. But as much as I've always been a news watcher, I don't recall seeing quite as much coverage of storms in previous years. Otherwise, I might not have been as uneducated about hurricanes prior to moving here. I think I used to only think they came to the Miami area. Never had a clue how long they lasted. And never could have answered the question in Trivial Pursuit if anyone had asked me where the worst natural disaster in the US had occurred.

[HouTXmetro]

As more storms potentially target our area and turn off without even providing decent rain, I am getting more and more concerned that Residents will not heed warnings when we are faced with a real threat. Even when the NHC had the black line going right through Galveston, many people I talked to didn't even know about the storm and the few that did without any knowledge of weather and track had the attitude, 'it's not gonna come here.' This attitude of Houstonians is really starting to concern me. One day, "possibly in the near future" we will be faced with a real threat. By the time residents do realize the severity of the situation I fear it will be too late.

whatever...
Trust me... when the NHC has it's 3 day dot south of Houston or the
surrounding ares... and that dot is red, orange or pink... people
will pay attention. There is no reason for people in Houston to get
overly concerned about a NHC black dot on the Yucatan...

It's perfectly OK and acceptable if they woke up this morning and said
"It won't come here"

I'm not one to try and contradict others' postings, but this is one where I do disagree. Pecan, do you live in Texas ( I think you are in MS, correct?). I have lived in Texas since 1988 after moving from Florida. The general attitude here is apathetic. Half the population of the Houston Metro area is post-Alicia. Texans in general feel pretty insulated from the troubles around the rest of the US. Allison gave us a little jolt but it didn't have the wind and surge that would destroy all those NEW beach houses going-up on the west end of Galveston - well beyond where the seawall stops.

Want more? Texas just came out with a "new" evacuation plan for all coastal counties. In it, they said that the freeways in TX were not designed to handle reverse traffic like in FLA or like we just saw in AL. So they use a combination of freeways and secondary roads. In the new plan, it is well documented that many of the secondary evacuation routes are at high risk for flooding well before landfall. I'm just curious - have you read any of this??? Did you happen to also read the HCFCD study on Allison after it hit??

The freeways are already jammed enough. I-45 out of Galveston is a nightmare in the mornings.

When Carla came in the 60's, at that time 1.5 million people evacuated the TX coast - the largest evacuation at the time.

Imagine that today...compounded with the additional population influx since then....then factor-in the apathetic Texan attitude that "it can't happen to us".

IMO a disaster waiting to happen.....

So, before you say "whatever....trust me" you might want to do a little due diligence first!

Thanks, I couldn't have said it better myself. Houston is full of towering trees that have not had a good trimming in decades. Many wooden homes in the area wouldn't stand a chance in 100mph winds. That coupled with the it won't come here attitude is a disaster waiting to happen. I live here so I know.

[texasheat]

where i live if a hurricane is predicted to hit around us within 3 days the city has a prgram that calls everyhouse and tells them in a message.

[stormie_skies]

jschlitz, sounds pretty accurate to me....

It is also worth noting how much new construction has been going on along 45 south between the Beltway and the causeway....I work in residential development and I can tell you that there are quite a few sizable projects slated to open in League City and Texas City within the next year or so....

If these new developments do well (and I imagine they will, given the low price points planned for the Texas City area), that will potentially add a few additional thousand people to the already overburdened evacuation routes.

I have read about the evacuation plan, but didn't realize that they didn't intend to open all lanes of 45 to northbound traffic....if they don't, I don't see any way everyone could get out unless people seriously started evacuating 3+ days in advance - something I just don't people around here doing. And 146 doesn't seem like a very logical evac route....it certainly isn't designed to handle that kind of traffic, and its proximity to the water makes me wonder how long it would even be passable if a major cane was bearing down on us...

As far as the newbie's awareness of the danger of tropical systems...I moved here in 2000 and didn't think once about even the remote possibility of a tropical system until Allison flooded my area....and I have an interest in the weather, so I can only imagine how little some of these people know, or how little they care.

I think a lot of people underestimate the potential destruction and loss of life in the Houston/Galveston area if a strong storm hit in the right place ... I think it could very well be the second worst "doomsday scenario" (after New Orleans, of course).

[jasons2k]

Hey HouTx:

Yes, that is so true. And I don't think Harris County mandated any kind of Hurricane Ties in new construction until just recently. And the scary thing is that Montgomery County still does not. Even though Montgomery is about 70-90 miles inland a quick moving major storm would blow away plenty of roofs, not to mention the trees.