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DrHenley

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This morning, (Monday, August 28th) mandatory evacuations have been ordered for some areas of Houston.

Three days ago - I repeat THREE DAYS AGO - the governor of Texas was suggesting that people think about leaving Houston, but deferred to local officials. The mayor of Houston pushed back and was saying things like this:

“There are a number of people who are in Hurricane Harvey’s direct path, and evacuation orders have been given to them. But for the Houston area… this is a rainmaker for us. There’s no need for people to be thinking about putting themselves in greater danger.”


"Please think twice before trying to leave Houston en masse. No evacuation orders have been issued for the city,”

“No evacuation orders have been issued for the city and none is being considered. Please continue to monitor mainstream news sources for updates on the weather and act accordingly as an informed resident. Rumors are nothing new, but the widespread use of social media has needlessly frightened many people today.”

The Harris County Emergency Management Office went to great lengths to "debunk" what it called "false emails and FB posts" that were predicting 50" of rain and 100,000 homes destroyed.
You can see the tweet here:
https://twitter.com/ReadyHarris/status/900852278395056128?ref_src=twsrc^tfw&ref_url=http://heavy.com/news/2017/08/why-wasnt-houston-evacuated-mandatory-evacuation-issued-sylvester-turner-ed-emmett-abbott-trump-hurricane-harvey/

Now they are getting hammered on Twitter and FB with messages like this:
https://twitter.com/HiHeidyy/status...rner-ed-emmett-abbott-trump-hurricane-harvey/


Now, in their defense, during Hurricane Rita, the evacuation killed over a hundred people - far more than the hurricane itself. The entire highway system became a parking lot during a heat wave.

So if thousands of motorists are stranded on the highway, and the highway floods, the situation could really be dire.

So I guess the question is...is it even possible to ever evacuate Houston in advance of an impending disaster?

It seems not.
 
that must be the big problem with any big city,an orderly evac is simply impossible,unless you start it weeks ahead.
 
This morning, (Monday, August 28th) mandatory evacuations have been ordered for some areas of Houston.

Three days ago - I repeat THREE DAYS AGO - the governor of Texas was suggesting that people think about leaving Houston, but deferred to local officials. The mayor of Houston pushed back and was saying things like this:

“There are a number of people who are in Hurricane Harvey’s direct path, and evacuation orders have been given to them. But for the Houston area… this is a rainmaker for us. There’s no need for people to be thinking about putting themselves in greater danger.”


"Please think twice before trying to leave Houston en masse. No evacuation orders have been issued for the city,”

“No evacuation orders have been issued for the city and none is being considered. Please continue to monitor mainstream news sources for updates on the weather and act accordingly as an informed resident. Rumors are nothing new, but the widespread use of social media has needlessly frightened many people today.”

The Harris County Emergency Management Office went to great lengths to "debunk" what it called "false emails and FB posts" that were predicting 50" of rain and 100,000 homes destroyed.
You can see the tweet here:
https://twitter.com/ReadyHarris/status/900852278395056128?ref_src=twsrc^tfw&ref_url=http://heavy.com/news/2017/08/why-wasnt-houston-evacuated-mandatory-evacuation-issued-sylvester-turner-ed-emmett-abbott-trump-hurricane-harvey/

Now they are getting hammered on Twitter and FB with messages like this:
https://twitter.com/HiHeidyy/status/901819525787734017?ref_src=twsrc^tfw&ref_url=http://heavy.com/news/2017/08/why-wasnt-houston-evacuated-mandatory-evacuation-issued-sylvester-turner-ed-emmett-abbott-trump-hurricane-harvey/


Now, in their defense, during Hurricane Rita, the evacuation killed over a hundred people - far more than the hurricane itself. The entire highway system became a parking lot during a heat wave.

So if thousands of motorists are stranded on the highway, and the highway floods, the situation could really be dire.

So I guess the question is...is it even possible to ever evacuate Houston in advance of an impending disaster?

It seems not.


I saw where the governor was saying one thing and the mayor was saying another. That first ladies post about working in a law firm an having insider information, I remember seeing it and thinking that she could be right. I am not too much into conspiracy theories, but there was a big disconnect in communication during Katrina too.
 
It's a situation of a crapshoot! No one to blame, the Mayor was acting on recent historical problem and 3 days isn't enough for an area the size of Houston to evac. The Mayor and the people were getting the same news, the people had a choice to make their own decision given what they seen in the news, heard what the Governor, Lt. Governor and FEMA were saying. I'm just saying lay no blame.
 
No doubt, if they had ordered a mass evacuation of Houston and the storm hit east or west then they would have been crusified. I think a lot of responsibility should lie with each individual and they need to decide what the costs vs risks are for themselves. I do know that it seems to be that the storms are getting stronger and more frequent, so more and more may have to make these kinds of decisions.
 
Look its clear that some very long term planning and development needs to be applied by authorities and governments, IE all towns and cities in high risk areas need to over the next 20 to 30 years start developing their communities so there are far more escape routes. All towns and cities re growing as the world gets more urbanised and so the planners need to be planning on all future expansion includes MORE escape routes from the cities. Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Droughts, Flash Floods, Wild fires etc are all increasing gradually in frequency and power because of climate changes, so it makes sense for planners to add a bit more thought to mass evac plans for future generations.
 
Look its clear that some very long term planning and development needs to be applied by authorities and governments, IE all towns and cities in high risk areas need to over the next 20 to 30 years start developing their communities so there are far more escape routes. All towns and cities re growing as the world gets more urbanised and so the planners need to be planning on all future expansion includes MORE escape routes from the cities. Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Droughts, Flash Floods, Wild fires etc are all increasing gradually in frequency and power because of climate changes, so it makes sense for planners to add a bit more thought to mass evac plans for future generations.
The problem is that almost every city here in the states are broke. They build multi million dollar sporting stadiums with borrowed money, then whine about not being able to afford school supplies and such. With real estate at all time highs, building roads is a major undertaking now.
 
They build multi million dollar sporting stadiums with borrowed money, then whine about not being able to afford school supplies and such.

Brother I know how that goes.

I was a police officer in a city of about 50,000 and the city had four
nice, well maintained parks.

One in the "ethnic" neighborhood.
That one wasn't fit for a child to play in what with all the broken wine bottles,
drug dealing, even prostitutes plying the oldest profession in the world.
We had drug dealers blown off park benches by Crips 'n Bloods.
When we police asked for a raise we got a 3% cost of living adjustment
and that was that.
Samo with the fire department.
13th serious injury, 4th broken back got me a medical disability.
And not much of one at that!
I'm 71 now and suffer mightily with permanent intractable pain.
Morphine won't even touch it. Wish I had some though!
I take Diclophenac (sp?) a non narcotic, non addictive, prescription
pain reliever 3X a day and some kind of something for depression, p.t.s.d
and bi polar disorder.
I'm crazy as an outhouse mouse! :confused:
Not really but I do have "issues" but I'm 100% harmless.
Unless sufficiently aggravated, no different than anyone else.

The people enduring those floods will suffer a long time after the event.
p.t.s.d. is sure to be a problem for many.
Can you imagine what first responders are going through?
The sickening choir of recovered the floating dead in that heat?
ewwwwwwwwwwww
I've handled enough dead bodies, some from fires, and it left an
indelible mark on me forever.
Once I tried to calm a young mother who was watching her home
totally engulfed in fire.
THEN I saw her baby in her arms was burned. Yellow fat oozing
from the poor things head.
I took the child to an ambulance for transport.
Hours later, at home, I saw the baby's skin stuck to my arms.
Wonder why I'm half freakin' nuts?o_O
God I don't want no more. Sadly I got more the 23rd of Dec.
I don't recall the year but it was sickening and personal.
3 dead teens, two my neighbor's kids.:wtf:
 
They what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I'm not so sure about that one.....

Neither am I.
13 serious injuries, p.t.s.d., clinical depression..........................

I just don't want no more.
That said anyone causing harm to me, mine, you or yours is dead.
I just won't tolerate any more.
" I'd rather be judged by 12 instead of carried by 6."

I'm not a cop any longer therefore not held to a ridiculous higher standard.
I'm just an old crippled guy that is trying to hang on as long as I can.
Same as 99% of the people on this rock.

On my way home one serine, quite, beautiful Dec. 23rd night I came upon a 2
vehicle wreck that happened just seconds ago.
Three teens all dead and all three my neighbors kids.
Sickening and the memories linger to this day.
 
We evacuated major cities pretty well here in FL. We started even earlier, for one, though, about 5 days prior. By 3 days prior, most who could evacuate, already had. The weird issue here, is that they stayed in state for the most part, so STILL saw the storm.

Even still though, those of us not in South FL felt it WAY less than the Keys and Miami did, or Naples, etc. We had Cat 2 conditions, not Cat 4. BIG difference there...bigger than two little digits imply.

Even at Cat 2, you saw over half of power customers with lost power, and a lot of destruction, even if relatively minor, was just over the entire state...even other states, in days after hitting us.

Now, hard for us to leave, as we'd leave a lot of animals to their fate. Just isn't like us to do that. But for those without such an anchor, for a Cat 3 or above forecasted to hit your area...get out if you can, Governor's recommendation or not.
 

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