[silentknight]

TREMENDOUS traffic nightmare in Texas. Unbelievable. Thousands of cars are running out of gas. Pentagon being asked to help with the situation.

Breaking...

[Torie]

Houston not out of the woods at all, and the models are amazingly disparate this late. This storm is confusing to the weather folks to get a handle on it seems, more so than Katrina.

[SE Mom]

You can't make this s%^t up.

[dfwgator]

The lesson learned is that somehow, they need to figure out how to phase the evacuations so that they do it by area. Probably by staggering the times that roads are open and that certain areas only have a certain window to get out, then the next area is let out and so forth, so that not everybody tries to leave at the same time.

Logistically it would be difficult but still I think it's possible.

[RoseyT]

"Thousands of cars are running out of gas."

Absolutely horrifying. Here in Lufkin stations are running out of gas. I had to go out for a couple of last minute things. It's getting scary out there.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

This is why you can't buy into any civil defense scenario about evacuating major cities. We aren't set up to do it well. It's hard to evacuate so many people. You have to get fuel for them, you need a place to put them, and you need ways to get them out in good order.

We don't have that.

[oceanview]

what do they want the Pentagon to do? drop gasoline cans from planes alongside the expressway?

[truthandlife]

The traffic is a nightmare and I pray that people will not be stuck on the highways when this thing hits.

Maybe Mayor White can implement the SAFEClear Program on the highways in Houston right now. It would be a big revenue generator for Houston (LOL)

Any motorist who stalls or experiences a flat tire who is not in a moving lane of traffic has the option of receiving a free tow to a destination of their choice within one mile of the nearest exit. If the motorist believes he or she has run out of gas, the destination can the nearest gas station, even if it is beyond a mile after the nearest exit. If the motorist has a flat tire and a good spare, the tire will be changed for free, as well, if the motorist wants.

• If the breakdown is in a moving lane of traffic, or if the motorist in the scenario above wishes to be towed beyond the one mile distance, or if the vehicle has been abandoned, not in a moving lane of traffic, the charge will be the same as under the original program: $75 for the first 5 miles and $1.50/mile thereafter. The fee will not exceed the fee authorized by the City of Houston Code of Ordinances, which is currently $124.