I just talked to my cousin who decided to right out Rita at her home in North Houston, near Eldridge and FM529. Although she was deathly afraid of what was predicted about Rita, she said that she was very relieved when Rita finally hit with little damage. Although it made alot of sense for every Houstonian to evacuate she's glad she stayed cause now she doesn't have to make that long trek home. Especially without the added stress of wondering about if she's going to run out of gas trying to get there.

This is a great lesson learned. Next time officials plan to evacuate a city this large they should do it in sectors. For example; the North side of town from John St to Doe St would evacuate on Monday. The South side on Tuesday and so forth and so on. It could be as detailed as they needed it to be and even send different sectors out using different routes. The city officials are to blame for the lack of planning and fuel shortage. They should NOT charge their citizens because of their lack of proper planning.

We left Pasadena at 7:00am. Thursday morning and it took 22 hours to to Killeen TX. People on the roads were mean and cut in line. I thought Houstonians were alot nicer, It makes me sad that these are the people we live around.

WHY DO WE NOT HERE OF THE SMALLER TOWNS BETWEEN NEW ORLEANS AND LAKE CHARLES? such as crowley,jennings,lake arthur, welch , mermantau, and evangline?

Is there any word on the condition of homes towards the end of galveston island past the seawall? Were the homes spared? I've seen coverage of buildings that are downtown and hotels/restaurants along the seawall, but nothing beyond that. We are evacuees from Katrina and were just about to temporarily 'settle' down in a home offered to us by a wonderful family in TX. (off the subject--TX rocks, by the way. We have been shown soo much kindness. I'm trying not to be cynical, but sometimes I want to ask 'what's the catch?'. People here are just geniunely nice. It's refreshing to see that there is still lots of good in the world. And now, back to the subject......) Then RITA happened, and we're back to being 'on the run'. If anyone knows the condition of Galveston beyond Jamaica Beach, please let others know.
Also, glad to hear that people will be getting reimbursed for the costs of towing. Unless you've been stuck in traffic for hours and hours and hours, you won't understand how easy it is to run out of gas and getting stuck on the side of the road. Most people try the gas stations closest to the interstate which, of course, are the ones with no gas. You don't want to go too far down because you'll be stuck in more traffic just trying to get back on the interstate. Then the gas trucks can't get thru cause they're stuck in traffic like the rest of us. Some people are prepared by bringing extra gas cans with them, but not everyone has the space in their car for that. It's hard and not everyone understands unless they've been thru it. It took us over 12 hours to cross the Louisiana border to Sulphur/Lake Charles and that was with me taking 'short' cuts and us leaving way ahead of the crush (Wednesday). This is a drive that normally only takes a couple of hours. Everybody else decided to use some of those short cuts to head north, but once I started heading east it was alot easier. So, unless you've lived or are living thru it, you won't understand. This is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

Everybody keeps comparing Rita to Katrina, saying Texans were scared of another Katrina and that we are relieved that we did not get another Katrina.

What y'all have to understand is that our fear had less to do with Katrina than it did with our own past experiences. We remember Alicia in the '80s and TS Allison just a few years back. Both of those were MUCH less intense than a category 5, and they caused severe economic damage and loss of life.

The fact is that, had Galveston Island taken a direct hit from a cat 5 storm, the destruction would have been devastating. That, in and of itself, is terrifying (with or without the memory of Katrina).

We all know that New Orleans is a different city than Houston with different infrastructure, but we also know how our city floods. You only have to watch a 18-wheeler float (yes, I said float) down I-10 once to take these storms seriously.

The continuous comparisons to Katrina do not accurately tell the story of why we ran.

To anyone who thinks the reimbursement and those who think these people were foolish to leave their cars on the side of the road,

I am sure that it is easy to sit back and make assumptions about WHY the cars got stranded, but the fact remains they did and these people do not need to be ridiculed for it. Yes people SHOULD have car pooled with their neighbors if they had room, or could have readjusted things in their cars to MAKE ROOM for their neighbors, but the fact is that that many people evacuating is going to cause traffic jams. BOTH SIDES of the freeway should have been opened up. It is not the vehicle owners fault their cars got stranded but the local government for not planning better and by not opening up both sides of the freeway. Also, a usually few minute drive down the freeway turned into HOURS. Cars got overheated (A trick for next time - some info here on this-when we were poor many years ago and could only afford an older used car with no working air conditioning and no way to pay for it, our car would tend to overheat (yes we did regular maintenance and water and oil changes but major air conditioning stuff out of the question)-as I was saying, when our car would overheat we would run the fan and the heat-even on the hottest days the windows rolled down blowing heat-UGH but it worked to keep the cars engine from overheating). Also, cars can run out of fuel in situations like this. 10-12 hours just to go 15-20-30 miles, again both sides of the freeway should have been opened up.

As for those "have's versus have nots", many jobs today especially in the higher-paying realm people ARE VERY AWARE of how their jobs can be offshored so very easily. My husband is a programmer and so are most of our friends. They talk about what to do if this happens for work. We all agree that people should be responsible for their own safety, but think of the elderly, those too young, those with physical and/or mental challenges, or those with very limited financial resources, well these could be our neighbors, so instead of making judgements we all need to begin to look after each other better in our neighborhoods instead of the "ME, me, me, myself and I society." In this context your are right. Yes many neighborhoods did and always have been as though a big family, but this should and NEEDS to be more throughout the US, where neighbors are acting like family and NOT finger pointing or judging but helping one another. I am not saying where neighbors are nosy and bothersome but just where we all help each other especially in situations such as these. "Foolishly leaving their cars on the side of the road?" Not a nice thing to say considering the city failed to open up both sides of the freeway. Again, I mentioned reason why cars were left due to congestion and lack of road space...

Now I usually do not respond to such poorly made remarks but think before you type next time, these people probably did not have gas cans for spare gasoline, or could not have found any in stores for purchase. I would not worry about their reimbursement nor where it comes from as if YOU were in this situation I am sure would would feel as they who got their cars towed.

Thank you Bob and Andrew for your continued reporting and glad you stayed safe. To all of the survivors out there, rescue personnel and security and EVERYONE Assalamu Alaykum (Peace be upon you).

It doesn't seem right to make the evacuees whose cars ran out of gas pay to get their vehicles back. I mean, sure, it's all well and good if they get reimbused, but what if like in my family's situation, were we down there, we wouldn't have the money in first place to get our car back, thus, no reimbursement, and no car! People are being punished for obeying the law with no alternative but to abandon their vehicles when they ran out gas.

It's appalling that the government added to its own people's injuries by not evacuating them properly, and adding further insult and financial hardship by towing and charging for the tow. I find it hard to believe that the evacuation process could be so incompetently executed. Who was in charge of this fiasco, anyways?

Can anyone verify how bad the damage is around Merryville, LA - more specifically Hwy 111. My parents live around there and I have not heard from them since Friday evening. Unable to get through on the phone.

Don't listen to the officials. They got you stuck going out, they will get you stuck going in. We made it in just fine yesterday. Good luck everyone!

Goes to show you that you should not rely on any government agency in a big disaster. They are clearly incomptent. What did they expect right after Katrina and millions of people in the area? Everyone would take a bicycle?! It is only common sense to take all your cars and your stuff and get away.

Also they didnt bother touse contradirection for the evacuation. Florida has a very good, smooth evacuation each time they have hurricanes. Why did not TX use FL as an example?

I am scared that in an earthquake, with no forewarning, the incomptent gov. officials will keep screwing up. Of course they are safe with lots of food, so why should they worry. Pack your own gas, food, and weapons. You will need them all.

I agree that these people shouldn't have to pay to get their cars out...reimbursement or not. Like others have said, what will happen if they don't have the money to get it out in the first place?

While I don't agree with those saying that people leaving are selfish, etc. I do agree that at the VERY least 1 family should have only taken ONE car with them. A story here about a family of 4 that brought up THREE cars just sickened me. COME ON!! 2 of those 3 cars should have been left at home.

I can understand not carpooling with your neighbors, especially if you have different free places to say in different towns, for example. However, one family taking more than 1 car is just wrong. (The only exception being if the entire family can't fit into that 1 car due to size.)

Why are we not getting any coverage on the smaller towns close to Beaumont.Is it because they are not able to get into these areas?Looking for any information on the town of Vidor and areas just south of Vidor.

We are really concerned about the 100 year old carousel in City Park, New Orleans and now the antique Dentzel in Houston. If anyone hears of their present status, we would love to know so we can go in EVENTUALLY and help them out.

it's amazing what some people will do.these people ran out of gas,i'm sure it wasn't something they wanted to do.and then some jackass come along and instead of lining the cars up in the emergency lane so people could come and get them,they are gonna tow them and then tell everyone that they are gonna be charged for it? give me a freaking break.if the govt is gonna pay for it,then why don't the wrecker service keep a list of the cars and trucks,vin numbers or whatever and let the govt pay them so these people can get their cars back? it's like an ocean full of damn sharks, and it's guys like me that work hard for a living that keep getting bit.these people have enough to worry about already without having to worry about where their car was towed to.and how are these unfortunate people supposed to know where their vehicle was towed to? are they all supposed to be physic or something? i hope the wheels fall off the damn wrecker the next time they try to use them.i've lost everything i had once and it was a stone cold sonofagun getting started again and some of these people are going to have to go through that and it's only gonna be harder when you have people that like to take advantage of other people knowing they are between a rock and a hard place.

MSNBC should give more news that those of us that are waiting to return can use. For example, the map that shows when people should return; availability of gas along all routes to Houston and other evacuated sites. Less time should be spent on the levees in New Orleans and more time on news that we can use. There are alot more sites that at damaged. Also please stop cutting off the Houston and Gov. Perry news conferences; this is the only chance we get to hear the status and plans from the local officials.

The evacuation- the police closed the stores on wednesday and then panic. Was there any notice. I looked on several city websites for guidance and there was no evacuation information. League city website did have a list of the cities/communities with mandatory evactuation. (Mostly Bay area/coastal communities.) Many people did not need to evacuate. Evacuating the parts of Houston(which is a very widespread city) would be the equivalent of evacuating Baton Rouge when a storm goes towards New Orleans-more complications that benefit. If you needed a prescrition, diapers, baby food etc. You were out of luck. In the past the grocery stores, pharmacies etc were open longer. And opened sooner. There was no information put out about these closures. Areas that were not in the mandatory evacuation were shut down. Telling people not to come back Saturday evening because of danger in the houston area was bull. People in Texas are always talking about individual rights well the cattle drivers took control and it was some round-up.

Everyone would be better off if thet obeyed the officials. Surely they dont want to be stuck in traffic again. Just wonder if this happens again how the public will react to official instructions.

The thing that frustrates me most about my generation is this victim mentality - it's everyone else fault. My parents taught me to work hard, take responsibility for your own actions, and help your neighbors - what has happened to those values?

It's not the government's fault that a hurricane was heading for this region, yet everyone is looking for some reson to declare that something was the fault of our government. I completely agree with the person who encourage us to count our blessings - that a vast majority of those that evacuated can return unharmed. If it weren't for the precautions taken by local & national government, this would not have been the case - the hurricane in Galveston 100 years ago is a painful example of how far we (and our government) has come.

The bottom line is that we need to take responsibility for ourselves and our own actions and not sit back and rely everyone else to hold our hands. Its not the government's reponsibility to move my family out of harms way - it's mine.

Finally, in our "fast-food" generation & mentality, we continually confuse being inconvenience with incompentence; just because we've not been given instant gratification or just because we have has to work through a solution, or wait in traffic for longer than expectate does not mean that someone was incompetent or at fault.

My thoughts and prayer go out to all of those impacted by hurricanes Katrina & Rita.

We took refuge in Dallas and are anxious to be home in Houston. Does anyone know if the State has revised the return plan and identified a scenario for those living east of I-45 and South of I-10? I know our home has power, water and food! If I can get there I would be happy to share!

It is easy for people to blame the government for the problems encountered during these evacuations, but how are they supposed to account for every single person in these areas? We blame them for the slow response after Katrina, and now when they actually did implement a plan of action, saving, many, many, MANY lives, they are still being criticized. I have read responses from other people that point out that many who were not in the mandatory evacuation areas did leave anyway- contributing to the traffic and leaving less available gas. And the families that took all of thier cars? Get real! It is not these material possesions that are priority- just being able to get your family and pets out of the area should have been enough. By filling the gas tanks on multiple cars and adding to the traffic, these people risked sacrificing other human beings. People say the evacuation plan should have been more thought out, but in an emergency situation like this with a strict time table, evacuating thousands, maybe millions, of people is just not going to be "orderly". And the ones returning home now when being asked by local officials to wait- this proves that the fault does not solely lie on the government. Any emergency plan is not going to be successful if people do not cooperate. Stay where you are safe and dry for now- these areas are still dangerous- contaminated waters, fires- why risk it?

I feel for all involved with these terrible storms and agree with others...I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for those from smaller towns..in need of USEFUL information about blocked roads..conditions for travel back etc...
The news crews seem to be able to devote time and manpower to interviewing and airing one sad story after the next but need to supply more pertinent information to those waiting for real news that they can use.

It is easy to say that both sides of the highway should be opened up to outbound or inbound traffic. The problem is, without a lot of advance planning and infrastructure accommodations, this would create a terrible safety hazard and plenty of liability to go around. Liability that would ultimately be paid by the taxpayers.

Everywhere I read about this gigantic NATURAL DISASTER. And with little exception most media types and large numbers of private citizens are busying trying to say what someone else "should" have done to have kept it from causing problems for anyone. And that is from four days to nearly four weeks after the fact. This is after those persons have seen all the consequences of actual taken to manage something which was unmanageable.

Yet those gripers and Monday morning quarterbacks have not been in the game, have not paid the price of learning the rules of the game, and surely not have been responsive to plans tried to be pushed into public policy by those who foresaw this NATIONAL DISASTER as a real probability and sought to be forward thinking.

If you have ever been in the middle of a true disaster you know that it is chaos. That's why it is called a "disaster." People panic. People cease to be able to listen when the chemicals in the brain push them into total flight. We humans never think it is going to happen to us. We expect someone else to take care of us, don't plan for ourselves, cannot think in a panic, and just join what seems to be the way out of harm's way.

I'm not an outsider to disaster. I've been in two South Texas Hurricanes. I helped true victims work their way through the Murrah Bombing in Oklahoma City and its subsequent chaos. I've been involved in two major tornados in Oklahoma City and a "minor" one in Kenedy, TX. I've had a father die from cancer, a mother from conjestive heart disease leading to stroke, and my wife is a cancer survivor.

Further I spent sixteen years working as a chaplain in a University Hospital with a statewide Trauma Emergency Center. I've been with many who were survivors no matter what, because they were survivors at heart. And I've been with others who "survived" yet were still loosers at the core of their being.

What do we humans actually expect? Perfect peace and tranquility without our ever having to be responsible for ourselves? To be exempt from any kind of catastrophe just because we are "more important" and thus think we are exempt? Do we think we deserve better? Do we actually believe we have no reason to do our own thinking, planning, and thus take responsibility for our own decisions?

You think this was bad, go to your public library and get the book describing the Great Galveston Storm of the early 1900's. It will curl your hair and you will thank your God you can still breathe and your heart still pumps blood through your veins.

"Duh?"