The evacuation from Hell!!!!!!!!!!

[David]

I live in Clear Lake south of Houston in the Evacuation Zone C about 30 miles from Galveston. I really wasn't too concerned on Wednesday but the wife said we had to leave. I got the shop at work secured on Wednesday and went home to board up the house. I covered the big windows but I still wasn't too concerned. Did I mention the wife said we had to leave?

I decided to get a few hours sleep and leave about 3am on Thursday (my so called mandatory time was noon Thursday). The wife woke me up at three, I don't think she slept. Rita turned right towards Galveston so I figured we better go. We were already packed, had a tank fuel of gas in Silverado and an extra 5 gallons of fuel in the back. My wife, 11 yo son, 2 dogs, and myself piled in. We actually hit the road at 4:20am, no really that's what time the wife noted.

We took Highway 3 north to downtown and got on highway 59 on the north side of town (my wife just read this and said I have to mention that this was her idea). This saved us 3 or 4 hours over the people on the south side that jumped right on I-45 near Clear Lake. Now it's about 5:00am and we're flying up HWY 59 at 60mph. I passed the entrance to the HOV lane just at they were opening it. Damn it, just missed it. Soon traffic came to a stand still and we hadn't even reached Beltway 8 on the north side. The few people that got on the HOV were flying by us.

We were in the left lane moving at about 2-3 mph. I noticed something going in the emergency lane ahead of us. Some people were moving to the left and stopping. Then these folks started moving out fast. Someone had busted open one the heavy steel gates to HOV lane that are placed every mile or two. We joined the group and were flying by the parking lot on the main lanes. After about 5 miles we came to a stop. This probably saved us 2-3 hours.

Now we were sitting in stop and go traffic. We couldn't turn off the car because we were moving several feet a minute. People started using the paved shoulder on the right. They would try to use the left shoulder but people would block them. There were also people on the feeder road trying to make headway. This went on for hours and hours. Some cars were breaking down or running out of gas, but not as many as I would have thought. Things were only getting worse.

We choose hwy59 north since that's where my family's from so we had places to stay. I knew it wasn't an approved evacuation route but I figured it was our best option. A few hundred thousand other people thought it was a good way to go too. We listened to the radio and called friends but it was hard to get info. Since it wasn't an evacuation route, they didn't give it as much attention. People were calling the radio station with rumors about hwy 59 moving somewhere up ahead, they were WRONG. People would call in that were 30 miles behind us and ask how the traffic was. The radio dj would say he heard it would let up here or there. WRONG! 30 miles behind us was 8 hours behind us. These people were lead into a huge mess that we were already in. I thought about turning back a few times but never could decide to do it, I think I saw two cars turn around.

We got north of Livingston (about 70 miles north of Houston) at about 8pm. There was no plan for using the south bound lane to go north. This actually makes since because the bottle neck was way up the road and increasing flow would just make the bottle neck worse. Besides, they were using the south bound lanes for north bound ambulances even with the south bound traffic. After Livingston a few people crossed over the grass median and started their own counter flow lane. When a cop passed by them going south without doing anything everyone took that as a sign that it was OK. We went from 3 lanes heading north (the two lanes plus shoulder and the occational person in the grass for a fourth lane) to 6 lanes heading north. What a friggen mess. It was nearing midnight at this point and cars were sitting off the road on the grass all over the place. The rest stops were full of cars and I don't mean the rest stop roads, I mean the roads, the grass, everything!

We were on the far right shoulder inching along in this mess. I noticed a few trucks turn right down this tiny county road. Then I saw this nice BMW motorcycle I'd checked out earlier turn down the road. I had about a third a tank of gas (you know the last third that seems to go quick ) plus the extra 5 gallons but we figured it had to go somewhere so what the hell. The motorcycle was clear out of sight and no one else joined us but off we went. The road started as a rough road and got worse. The wife figured we were going to find the family from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. We started catching the motorcycle because the road was changing to sand. Then I saw the tell-tell wiggle of the taillight and down he went. As we caught up to him as he was trying to right his K1200RT. I jumped out and helped him get it up, mentioned I had a R1100S, and asked if he had any idea where we were. He said he did and showed me his navigation system showing we would snake around into the town that was north of us. I stayed behing him so I wouldn't kick up sand and in case he went down again. He struggled through it with both feet on the ground. Somewhere down the rough road my compass stuck on 'S', not a good sign when you want it to read 'N'. Soon we were back at hwy 59 and traffic was moving!!! I stopped to talk to the rider. He said he hoped we found gas soon, I said he could have my 5 gallons after I reached Nacogdoches. He said thanks, but I never saw him again as he moved through traffic pretty good.

The police got control of things at this point. I wasn't too surprised since they're known to shoot first and ask questions later in this part of Texas. They stopped the counter flow lanes, but if there was a stop light it was yellow, no stopping. If a gas station had gas it was open (you don't usually see gas stations open at 1am in small East Texas towns). As we left this town I saw the state trucks with small fuel trailers gassing people's cars and getting them on their way. We had a quarter tank so moved on at near the speed limit. I'd been awake and behind the wheel for over 20 hours at this point and I guess everyone else had been too because nobody wanted to go very fast. We finally reached my cousin's house at 2:30am, 22 hours on the road! I had a couple beers and off to bed.

There were two or three jerks out there but considering there was over 100,000 cars I think things stayed pretty civil. I even saw people stop to give strangers a little gas. That's what I like about Houston.

The government reacted well considering. My biggest complaint is that the government and media didn't tell the public what to realisticly expect from a hurricane. They all hyped it up so people on the north side of Houston evacuated. I was in Houston during Alicia and it wasn't that bad. If I wasn't in Clear Lake I wouldn't have left. The really bad thing was all the people that took ALL their cars. People, you have insurance leave the extra cars at home. Over a third of the cars had one person in them! I talked to a friend in Kingwood that said 7 of his neighbors took 7 cars and they discussed this before they left and decided this would be best. Now it sounds like we'll be spared so I'll still have the 930 in peices to work on when I get home.

[motion]

David, That is a helluva story. Glad you made it out of town eventually. I can't even begin to imagine that scene

[red-beard]

I'm on the Northwest side, we we stayed...

[techweenie]

I was amazed that state authorities left all the Southbound lanes closed to Northbound traffic. Really bad planning.

[red-beard]

This is the 1st time they did it, and they didn't have a plan. It took a few hours to get it going. What we needed was more evac routes. I was able to drive around side streets and get around as I needed, while the freeway was packed, 2 streets over. When the local TV stations said that people were going thirsty and hungry on the evac routes, we came out and brought food, water, and some people even gave gasoline.

The plan was very good, but they evacuated as a CAT 5. That was a huge move. Imagine trying to evacuate San Diego, with only 3 routes out!

[David]

I talked to a friend that had a navigation system in his car. He was able to skip around a lot of the traffic. Unfortunately he burned a lot of fuel doing it. I think the keys to an evacuation are leave early, have a newer model car and nav system if possible, and be patient.

My truck seems to be shifting a little strange after sitting in stop and go traffic for so long.

[Tim Hancock]

Good luck David and Red Beard, I hope your homes stay safe!

[dd74]

Governor Rick Perry said Texas was ready for "anything." I guess that didn't include evacuation.

In all, I don't think any state is ever ready for "anything."

[jjwood]

David -- coouldn't agree with you more. Looks like this was a good dry run for a CAT 5. And now it looks like it'll come in miles to the east. Better safe than sorry. I suppose, BUT I think some of the problem with those of us that are not in the 'coastal areas" fear is local flooding & loss of power. Many of us experienced severe local flooding years ago along the San Jacinto River in far north Harris County & south Montco County along with power outages that lasted for days. Maybe nxt time they'll suggest a staggered evacuation by region with strong emphasis that the the northern most region not evacuate until DAY 2 or 3. Hell, I wasn't trying to evacuate -- just trying to get home. From where I stand, the biggest problem was lack of gasoline which only increased the sense of panic. For many of these poor souls, they left their homes with a full tank of gas but when you only travel a few miles per hour for many hours, a tank of gas doesn't get you far.

But, at the end of the day, ALL the freeways were clear well before the storm was due to hit. A hell of an inconvenience for over 2 million of us, but logistically, quite a feat. This was not going to be another New Orleans.

I'm glad we're all safe! Now let's get our Porsche projects finished.

[red-beard]

There is no question that the plan needs re-work. It still was successful. Don't forget 2 things. The interstates are under construction right now, and will be for the next 3 years. They are converting our 6+4+1 Interstate (6 main lains,4 frontage rd lanes & 1 unidirectional HOV) into 8 main lanes, 6 frontage rd and 4 bi-directional HOV. The roads packup everymorning, just like LA.

Now Tech, how would LA do, under the same circumstances?

[Joeaksa]

Glad you made it ok. Better to be safe than sorry and you can return on Saturday or Sunday.

JoeA

[RickM]

Very interesting story. Glad you and your family are well.

I can't imagine what an evacuation would be like out of a place like Long Island. They're jam packed when there's regular commuter traffic. Lots to think about.

[84porsche]

David,

Glad you made it out ok. I was in Miami Beach this past week when Rita's winds went through at 100mph, not fun, pretty much trashed the beach for most of my vacation. It was crazy, I was watching the news crazy hoping it would dissipate from Category 5 status before it hit. A few pictures for those who have never experienced the winds or a hurricane.

Before:



During:



Chris

[JeremyD]

Glad you guys fared well - and I have lots of friends and family in the area that told similiar tales. Clearlake is not where you want to be during a major storm - and a category 3 is a major storm.

We left at 3:00 in the morning for Charley and reached our distination is an hour. By 4:30 traffic was already backing up and the trip was taking 3 hours. By 6 it was an 8 hour trip...