The Governor of Texas and the Texas DOT need to do the math right now. In 48 hours - those people will be - at max - only 56 miles away from Houston trapped in their cars.

What's the odds of survival? Death by flooding trapped in a car.

Why aren't they looking ahead of the line and figuring out where the slowdowns are taking place. I fear that one of the lasting pictures of this hurricane is going to be thousands of people in vehicles.

Solution? Get in the ditches now - and start moving. Hopefully people are pushing the cars which are overheated or out of gas off the road and picking up their neighbor.

Welcome Andrew and Bob,

We will be looking forward to the news, all of it: the good, the bad and the ugly. Most importantly, the people's stories and their needs such as food and clothing. We have sent much already in finanical and other needs to both animal organizations as well as those for people. We would like to do more, so if you get info on items most needed we will do what we can-and of course where to send. Most agencies are only asking for money, hopefully there will not be corruption in how and where the money goes. If anybody recalls years ago and the Alpine, California fires and the money that was supposed to go to them went instead to the lady that resigned (with a nice severence pay of like 1 million dollars) I think she bought a car and a vacation with the money. (Have those people seen any money yet?) Okay, back to this blog-sorry got off subject a bit-HOPEFULLY the money will not be mishandled.

I can imagine the crowds and the stress must have been absolutely higher than the norm due to the urgency of getting out. Flying just to go on vacation is bad enough without this. Hopefully this coming hurricane will weaken substantially, but regardless there is going to be wind and rain and likely flooding so you two be safe out there okay?

The traffic-UGH! Bad enough on a day to day basis. Yes, they should open up both sides of the freeway and perhaps leave one lane, maybe two for those wanting and/or needing to go in town such as rescue personnel, security and the like. Hopefully for those unable to drive due to age (too young or too old), too sick or physically challenged, hopefully a neighbor helped them to get out that had a car, or they had access to bus or other form of transportation. We read somewhere people were being allowed to take their pets, so if you can find any info on this we would greatly appreciate it. Our son, who has a form of autism, is so sensitive to the plight of animals so we do not turn on the television news in fear he will see stranded animals and then be all upset for days at a time. Again, if you can get info on the furry and other pets that would be wonderful.

Whatever news you can get again, you be safe.

To all of you survivors, and rescue personnel, our prayers with you. Assalamu alaykum (Peace be upon you) All of you, Hugs and prayers.

I JESSIE VIAL AM LOOKING FOR MY WIFE VERA VIAL AND MY SON RUSSELL VIAL, THEY WERE LAST KNOWN TO BE AT THE ASTRODOME IN TEXAS. NOW I HERE THEY ARE MOVING PEOPLE ARKANSAS. I AM IN NAMPA, IDAHO AND WOULD LIKE TO HERE FROM MY WIFE AND SON.

Why don't they open up all the lanes on the freeway? This would help out on the traffic a little and give people a fighting chance of getting out of the way of the storm. They could make announcements on the radio, t.v., and have police and or military at both ends of the freeway to help with traffic. This is just my idea. To all of the suvivors and everyone else god bless.

Just be safe!!

Flooding is the least of your worries in a car--the wind is the worry. With the tornadoes spawned by a hurricane probably the worst place to be is in your car. In a normal hurricane, if there is such a beast, most Houstonians do not evacuate. This one has been different because of Katrina and the fact that the local news has been showing that Galveston will be under water in a 25 foot storm surge. Memories of Tropical Storm Allison also come to mind. Thus you now have 1.5 million people getting on the road, all at the same time.
One of the major evacuation routes runs about 200 yards from my home and it has been bumper to bumper for the past 24 hours.
Am I staying? Yes
Why? Where I would evacuate to is in the path of the storm as well, thus the choice of the traffic jam or my house.
Is it the right decision? I don't know but the decision is made.

Anyone wonder who will the contract to rebuild texas once it's hit?? Cheney again. He's rebuilding, Iraq, Louisiana, Mississippi, and now it will be Texas. What a crock. And nobody says anything about the fix in the white house. Gas money in Bush's pocket and construction in Cheney's. The rest of the country doesn't have a chance to make any money, it all goes to the gov. And Texas will NOT be neglected like Louisiana was, believe me. He already has buses and military on it's way. Surprised?

I love the coast, but to re-build and/or repair seems a tragedy. When will people learn. It is like building a house atop a volcano and expect the federal and local officials to BAIL you out when times get rough. JUST DON'T LIVE THERE.

I can't believe this is happening to my hometown. Usually, the power just goes out when there is a hurricane. This is worse than the hurricane in 1983. If I was trying to get out, I would take the motorcycle. It does have less cargo capcity. However, it will take me farther and it is easy to manuver through traffic. If I wanted to take more with me, I could use a backpack. The point is, I don't want to be stuck on the road in my car that has ran out of gas.

I wish I could tell them:

Get off the freeway - take the local roads - you'll move faster.

did that last year when leaving Biloxi for Ivan.
it works.

good luck

and pray

Texas is doing a much better job then Nagin did. I mean, it's like he used human8ball.com to make his decisions for him. Why was he inviting people back into the huricanne's path?

Regarding the blogs of traffic exiting Houston...It makes perfectly good sense, as the reasons are the same as we see everyday in congested metro-areas. There are too many people not paying attention and/or not rationalizing that their self-centered behaviours are now spilling-over into the lives of others. We in America are surrounded by self-serving idealists who's only goal in life is to take for themselves and not perform. These people running out of gas, pulling-over to the side or just screwing-off need their cars and personal belongings pushed into the ditch and forgotten about.

Our society is no different than the typical work-place where 20% perform well, 60% have acceptable performance and 20% drag the rest of us down like boat anchors. I suggest we cut the bottom 20% loose(except for the true needy). If they swim then we were wrong and they will have redeemed themselves and proven worthy to be in our lives...If they don't, then we've alleviated the load on the rest of us.

A friend of mine has a cousin in Houston. She evacuated her family at 3:30am this morning; by 9:30am they had gone 11 miles and they were out of gas. There is no more gas to be purchased in Houston, so now the cousin, with kids and grandkids, are stranded in Houston with church members who are in similar situations. I pray for all those who have no choice but to stay in the city. I am also, again, reminded why its so nice to live in Maine - we only have to deal with occasional blizzards!

Andrew and Bob,You are not the only ones "Going the wrong way) My husband, a volenteer F.F. from Huntingtown, MD and our daughter, a 17 year old EMT from the same fire station are now on their way to Houston. They are working for FEMA and have been outside Baton Rough in Hammond looking for evacuees for the past week.FEMA is sending them down there to also be there with the first responders. PLEASE keep all of them in your thoughts and prayers. God keep all safe....

I was on my way from Houston to Thibodaux,Louisiana today...on a normal trip, my drive from Houston to right outside of Beaumont would take me about an hour and a half...today it took me 8...luckly with a little over 1/8th of a tank of gas I was able to make it back to Missouri City tonite. I will never get on a freeway again for any reason if at all possible.

Are you going closer to the storm if it keeps moving northeast of you? Is anyone out surfing? Has the price of milk gone sky high, will their be deals on vacations assuming Houston doesn't get hit bad? Are you eating out of Vendors Supply'd machines? Thanks, be safe
Sincerely, Hew Jasse

I was born in Houston and still have family there. I've been living in South Florida since 1992. Less than a month after I moved, Hurricane Andrew hit Miami. The local authorities there made ALL lanes Northbound and suspended tolls. Why has Harris County officials decided not to do the same is baffling.
My aunt left her house in South Houston headed I-10 West to San Antonio at 12:00 midnight Wed. Night/Thur. Morning. At 9:00p.m. Thursday she was still in Houston. Her, her two sons, and their families were stuck in traffic for over 15 hours and moved only 60 miles. She heard reports on the radio that they were opening up both sides of I-10 for all lanes to be headed west. However this was false hope. For those already stuck in traffic, they could not cross over. Only people getting on from within the city would be able to crossover to the eastbound lanes.
Therefore she got off, went to a gas station, suprisingly got some much needed gas, use the facilities, got something to eat, then made her way a little ways back to where the authorities were letting people on the opposite side of I-10 in hopes for a smoother, FASTER, trip.
My other family members either were running out of gas and had to turn around. They rationalized that it would be worse to be stuck on a highway without gas than back at home or in a hotel.
My prayers got out to everyone in Southeast Texas and the Louisiana.

I am a Houstonian that moved to California 19 years ago. I spent last night arguing with my mother trying to get her to drive to Waco. With that said I guess I am going to play devils advocate. In my personal opinion I truly believe that people really need to start taking responsibility for their own person well being. On the other hand I do agree that our local and state officials could of done some things a little different. But in the end everyone in the WORLD knew there was a potential for a Cat 5 Hurricane to hit the Galveston/Houston area. My mom as well as other Houstonians should of began leaving as early as Monday. Well my agruging did pay off my mother left Houston at 11:30 PM and arrived in Waco at 9:30 AM the next morning. My prayers goes out to everyone in the path of Rita. God Bless.

On wednesday night I left Tyler in NE texas for my Dad's place in conroe which is on the north side of Houston. We boarded up his windows and tinkered with the generator but he refused to return with me to Tyler this morning(Thursday). Fearing an all day commute up I-45 and then N.79 I used mapquest and a couple of local maps to "backroad" my way back home in just about 5 hours where the night before it took me 3 and a half to get there.
Texas has gone nuts. Never have I seen so many cars on the road at once. When I crossed over I45 all lanes were opened for northbound traffic and there were several stalled or out of gas cars on the road below my overpass. Police struggled in the 102 heat to direct what amounted to a parking lot of cars coming off the off ramps and swamping the gas stations and restaraunts. Every gas station I passed was a traffic jam. Every little town that had a stop sign had traffic backed up for at least a mile. I carried two gas cans with me and ended up using one of them on the return trip.
Back here in Tyler, almost every gas station is out of gas and the grocery stores are swamped. Even here you cant get generators, plywood, gas cans, gas, bottled water, and a whole host of other supplies.
One thing is sure, after Katrina people are scared, and they are taking this storm seriously!

Texas is a great state and had a wonderful plan for the exodus from Houston but one thing ws missing-enough highways! Why wasn't someone calculating the estimated number of car and trucks that would leave verses the amount of available space of the roads. This mistake is a total blunder and should have been addressed by the officals way before this week.
My children are trapped just 70 plus miles from their LaPorte home after traveling 20 plus hours (since 3:45 AM this morning) to reach a point where they are out of gas and still short of their destination, College Station, and parked on the side of the road along with 150 plus other cars and trucks.
I am in hopes the officals in Texas recognize their mistake and correct their deficencies in the "emergency escape routes" they have established.
Good luck Texas - I hope no one drowns in their cars trying to leave the Gulf region.

I live south west of Fort worth and this area doesn't have a single motel or hotel room available.
Gas stations are running out of gas. The horse barn manager's wife and children Arrived about 9PM from Houston and the whole family are sleeping in a very small space but they are OK.
There are no gas cans to buy, not a single generator in this area to buy.
With most of this area on wells there will be no water if the elctricity goes so people are stocking up on bottled water.

Hello all! My family is from Friendswood, located about 30 miles south of houston off of I-45. My father flew into houston last night on an early return from business in Calgary with hopes of travelling to San Antonio to meet up with my mother who had already evacuated there a couple days earlier. My father, not yet aware of how horrible the traffic would be decided to drive his company car home from the airport and then leave his house in his personal vehicle. Well, he left at 9:30 pm on Sept. 21st and after a total of 23 hours of driving, he had only made it to the very West side of Houston a little past Katy. I was able to get ahold of him only twice on his cell phone and he said he had been averaging about 1 mile per hour. He tells me stories of cars overheating and running out of gas. He finally found a gas station about 9:30 pm this evening but there is no gas. He is first in line for it, when and if they can get more fuel into hte station. Many of these people, like my father carried little food or water because they weren't planning this much trouble getting out. I just hope that they can get the traffic cleared up. he said that they had made the I-10 inbound lanes to Houston now outbound lanes, but they were crawling too. Please pray for my father and all of these other people that may be stuck when this hurricane hits.

Andrew-
Welcome back, sure missed your reporting. Good luck in Texas. I know you're busy with Rita reporting, but if you ever get a chance, will you let us know how Bill Harris is doing? I think about him daily.
Thanks for all the hard work!

If that graphic is accurate, you are a lot farther from the path of Rita that my wife and two daughters, who spent 14 hours in a car to get only 20 miles from our home in SW Houston. When they saw it was impossible to get out, they went back home and hunkered down. I'd give anything to be with them now. May God be with us as we face this incredible thing.