Good to get reimbursed for their vehicles' towing fees. Hopefully that will not take too long. As for days when the residents can return, great idea to have it staggered so hopefully people will realize the importance of not all trying to go at once. Happy to know the bar was still there. Is this the one historic building you told us about? Hope all of the buildings stood strong as the people.

You two Bob and Andrew, take care and be safe. For everyone our prayers are with you. By the way, any ducks go floating into the bar? LOL sorry again just pictured in my mind those ducks. Again everyone, our prayers with you all.

I Wish all of the people down south the Best of Luck.
As I sit here in my easy chair and watch and listen to all that is going on. My emotions are on a roller coaster ride. I know that I am only getting a very very small portion of the whole picture.
The hardships that these people have to endure will surely make them stronger.
May You All Have Safe Journeys!

How extensive is damage in Jennings, La, near exit 674 at 815 Shankland? Can we expect our cars and homes to be damaged?
My mom is in Baton Rouge with me, what is her best path back to Houston, where she must return to work?

We evacuated Thursday at 1:00a.m from north Houston. It took us 10 hours to drive 25 miles. The sad part was that the southbound lanes were completely empty(highway 59). I sure hope official will get it right this time, and open all lanes to returning traffic.

After Rita, I still believe that there needs to be a lot more focused planning. We need to make our government accountable. The Houston evacuation was a nightmare. I know it's a very populated city, but running out of gas, and not opening highways is just not acceptable.
We came back Saturday evening, from Alto, TX. We decided to take the backroads to come back, and it worked well. We had to go around a couple of fallen trees on some of the roads. We also had a full tank of gas leaving Alto.

Good to see that it did'nt turn out so bad after all.

Best wiches from Norway!

I drove in to Houston from San Antonio on Saturday evening. Multiple electronic signs warning of MASSIVE DELAYS AND NO GAS. Travel time 2 hrs and 45 minutes. 80 mph. Gas at all but 2 stations on I-10. No lines. Perfect weather. Highway between 5% and 20 % capacity. Officials clearly overdid the warnings and wasted a day of return.

I'm sure it was necessary to have the cars towed; however, I can't imagine how it made evacuees feel to find that insult heaped on their misery. I am grateful to hear that Houston was spared! I've not had the chance to visit, so I still have something to visit!

I wondered about the gas crisis people were having who were evacuating Houston. I understand that the gas stations along the way were unable to import enough gas to keep people moving along the highways. I wondered why this had not been taken into account in Houston's evacuation plan.

I wish the media would concentrate more on where the storm really hit. We know it brushed Houston and Galveston, but it hit Orange, Tx really hard and I have seen very little coverage of that. I realize it's a small city, but the people there deserve as much help as anyone else.

There has been no report on the small towns of Port Neches, Nederland or Groves. These are between Port Arthur and Beaumont. My sister has a home on 14th street in Port Neches. She managed to make it here to Prague, Okla and is wondering if it is safe to return home. Please, any information you have will be greatly appreciated. Ruth Bell

They'll get reimbursed for their cars being towed? I'm glad the local government and not the federal government is apparently willing to pay for that. They better not end up getting bailed out by the federal government because it's ridiculous to think that we have to pay for them to get their cars back when they shouldn't've been stranded on the side of the road to begin with. Also, doesn't insurance cover that?

Why was their not enough gas to get people off the side of the road. Yes, some of it was the fact that people top off their tanks, people that don't need to, but there has to be more to it. How come hundreds, if not thousands of cars, can be stranded on the side of the road while fleeing from a coming hurrican due to lack of gas while the tow trucks that scoop up these same cars have plenty of gas. Why is that? Does that make sense at all? We do realize that tow trucks get horrible gas mileage, don't we? It would have been a better allocation of resources to take the gas from the tow trucks and put them in the stranded cars. Sure, tow trucks or cars would have ended up on the side of the road still (someone still would have run out of gas), but at least it would have been fewer vehicles.

I bet there would have ended up being a lot fewer cars stranded if people had picked up their neighbors. How many people were in these cars? In some of them, probably one or two. Combine cars, save expense AND the destruction of the Earth. There would have been fewer cars on the road to start with and I guarantee you that the traffic would have been 10-20% better for that fact alone.

I think we're seeing the true limits of what government can do. People should take responsibility for their own safety and not depend on the government. This will include after a terrorist attack. Sure, the government will probably respond, but it certainly won't be instant and without hardship for us as recent events have shown.

It's all part of a dumbing down of America and the realization of what a culture of people with money and possessions who still feel like they don't have enough lording this over those who barely get by. They're out of touch with reality. Sure, maybe they can't buy their Lexus and have to opt for a Toyota but there are people that don't have many to clothe themselves or eat more than what they can find in the trash. Be aware that if you think you have a good job and don't really see how you can afford to get by, look around because there are people making a quarter of your income trying to get through the same. No, this isn't happening in other countries, not just exclusively, this happens in our country as well.

Pay to reimburse people for having their cars towed? Get real, give America money to afford shelter or food first and then we can talk about getting it a car so it can get reimbursed after it foolishly loses it along the side of the road.

What a rotten thing to do. Tow the cars ,then charge the poor people to get their car back. What if some don't have 159.00 to pay for the tow. I know we would not have that kind of money. Who is at fault they ran out of gas and couldn't get any?

Let those driving gas guzzelers like hummer be stranded for some time. They should not be allowed to fill up their tanks. They take my and your gas dispraportionately.

KDP

I am so grateful that Houston avoided a major hit from this hurricane. Even if I had to sit in traffic longer than usual (which I did) I am so grateful that I have a home to go home to,

I really agree with the lady from Oklahoma regarding the town of Port Neches. My mom lives on Gulf Avenue, right off Llano Street. Any info on that area? Please help. J. Bernard, Austin, Tx

I think people learned from hurricane Katrina to not take Mother Nature lightly. All in all, I beleive things went well. Sure there were some problems but, there's always going to be no matter how prepared one can be. Let's hope lessons learned will stay in the minds of government and its people.

I honestly do not understand why everyone is getting so upset about how the evacuation process went. Everyone is ALIVE and that is what is so important. Are we so naive to believe that there wouldn't be any traffic jams when such a disaster is upon us. Next time, people living in hurricane prone areas need to think and act and not wait for local officials to tell them what to do. My parents live in Pensacola, Florida and they always evacuate days before any mandatory evacuation order. I really just do not understand human beings these days, take your time getting back, stop complaining and appreciate that you even have a body and a mind to get you back home. It could have been worse, celebrate the positives.

Tow the cars to the nearest exit, that way the can actually be found when the owner returns to get it with the fuel. Now they have to determine where the car is and have it "unimpounded" Govermnet can pay the tow charge thereby saving resources, time , money etc etc..

I am just wandering why everyone would have taken the interstate and more hadn't taken the back roads to their destination. I had friends do just that and they reported on some of the roads only two cars. They left the city thursday morning and had no trouble getting north in great time and fuel at the gas stations along the way. They used a map.

I stayed in Katy. Life was hard not having anything available. I guess I am so happy to see the people returning to take what little I have left. This is currently my city. A city of little. If you are in the land of plenty, wait there till we have some. listen to the city officials. You already caused enough problems here by topping off and taking as much as you could with you. now, you will steal from the smal city you left to, and bring back to those of us who have none, right? I doubt it. You will horde what you can get there for yourselves, and protect it when you get here. Stay out. Leave us alone till we are ready. I finally got milk this morning. I can't expect to get more till much later. What is here will be gone after the store openings, and what becomes available will be gone after the mad rush due to reopenings. Please, I beg of you, hold off as long as you can. Enjoy the school closings by staying elsewhere until we have enough to call a temporary reserve.

Part of my family left at 2pm on Wednesday for Dallas and did not arrive until 5:30am on Thursday. Fortunately, they did not run out of gas, but were exhausted.
People are wanting to blame city officials for the world's biggest traffic jam, but not everyone listened to the evacuation instructions. There are thousands of people that evacuated from Houston and they were not part of the mandatory evacauation zones...this contributed to the traffic jams and gas shortage.
How many people are heading back right now and officials have asked them to stay put? Thousands! Lets face it, evacauees are going to leave early because they want to check on their houses and just be home.
We cannot solely blame the local government for this mess. Mother nature is unpredictable and if everyone would have stayed put, Hurricane Rita would have probably stayed a cat 5 and the result could have been catastrophic...we just don't know!
Yes, we need to learn from this evacuation process and see what can be done differently such as, ensure overflow of gas for the evacuees. Of course, are we ALL going to listen to the evacuation instructions given for next time??

Does anyone have any info on Port Neches, a small town between Beaumont and Port Arthur? Looking for the status of Gulf Avenue at Llano Street. Can anyone help me locate the status of my mom's house?

Does anyone know about the Moss Bluff area of Lake Charles? I am having difficulty finding out about our home in this area. I wish the media would show more of Lake Charles and less of Huston and other areas that were not so damaged.

are the interstates open to travel coming from louisianna to texas ?

I have family in Angleton, TX Any damage there? What's it like there. They are staying with us right now, & no TV station is telling about that area. Thanks