Even with head start, Houston had a problem

Waterbury Republican-American ^ | September 24, 2005 | Erin McClam (A.P.)

[Graybeard58]

Texas officials sketched a staggered, orderly evacuation plan for Hurricane Rita and urged people to get out days ahead of time.

But tangles still arrived even before the storm's first bands. Panicked drivers ran out of gas, a spectacular, deadly bus fire clogged traffic, and freeways were red rivers of taillights that stretched to the horizon.

In an age of terrorist danger and with memories of the nightmare in New Orleans still fresh, the Texas exodus raises a troubling question: Can any American city empty itself safely and quickly?

Thousands of drivers remained stranded Friday to the north and west of Houston. Many were stuck in extreme heat, out of gas -- as gas trucks, rumored to be on the way, or at least buses to evacuate motorists, never came.

They were frustrated, angry and growing desperate, scattered and stranded across a broad swath of the state as the monster storm bore down.

Houston is a landlocked city, an hour's drive from the Gulf of Mexico. Besides Houston's 4 million people fleeing, as many as 2 million were trying to get out through Houston from the coastal side.

In Galveston County along the Gulf, authorities set up three evacuation zones, beginning Wednesday evening and staggered at eight-hour intervals, with the most outlying areas to be the first to leave. But people in all three zones left early anyway, further snarling traffic.

From Houston, the main roads out of town -- Interstate 10 to San Antonio, I-45 to Dallas, and U.S. Highway 290 to Austin -- were turned into one-way thoroughfares only Thursday, and even then the one-way flow began well outside Houston.

"There were some weaknesses," Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat, acknowledged to KTRK-TV on Friday. "We could have fixed some of the elements ... a fuel truck that works, a mechanical system that works, and opening the contraflow," the term emergency officials use for routing all lanes in one direction.

Later in the day, Jackson Lee told The Associated Press the state should have asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency for supplies. "I'm marching people all over looking for gasoline," she said.

Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Friday decision to order one-way flow came after the storm, originally on a track south of Houston, changed course and headed toward Houston instead.

"It's not perfect," he said. "I wish I could wave a magic wand and somehow transport people magically from Houston, Texas, to Dallas or other points, but that's not the fact when you have the type of congestion that you see in the state of Texas on a daily basis."

He added: "I think when you look behind later, it will be almost miraculous that this many people were moved out of harm's way."

State emergency management coordinator Jack Colley said 2.5 million to 2.7 million Texans had already been moved out of harm's way, and the governor said 25 buses would canvass Beaumont, looking for people still trying to get out.

By midday Friday, lanes were restored to normal traffic. Still, many remained stranded beyond Houston's suburbs.

Before the late 1990s, emergency management officials were in charge of evacuations, and transportation engineers had little interest.

But those engineers have devoted great energy to the problem since Hurricane Georges forced an evacuation of New Orleans in 1998, and Hurricane Floyd an evacuation of the Carolinas in 1999.

Rita and her hellish predecessor, Katrina, come in the new age of terror, as authorities try to draw up plans for clearing out cities in the event of deadly strikes with unconventional weapons.

Still, experts say the massive coastal zone that needs to be cleared of people before a major hurricane is far larger than the area to be evacuated after an industrial accident or a terror attack.

In the event of a nuclear accident, federal rules require the evacuation of a 10-mile radius around the plant. After a so-called "dirty bomb" nuclear detonation or the release of chemical or biological weapons, only the region immediately downwind of the release point would have to be cleared.

"Natural disasters just dwarf anything that's manmade," said Reuben B. Goldblatt, a partner at traffic engineering firm KLD Associates in Commack, N.Y.

Brian Wolshon, a professor of civil engineering at Louisiana State University, said Texas officials "will probably see there were things they could have done better."

But he added: "It's not economically or environmentally feasible to build enough roads to evacuate a city the size of Houston in a short time and with no congestion. It's just not going to happen."

It was a point all too clear to Bruce French, who left his home in Clear Lake, Texas, early Thursday, and ran out of gas just past Conroe, far short of his destination of Dallas. On Friday morning, he was stranded, waiting for fuel.

"They're giving $10 worth of gas if you're on empty and $5 if you have some," he said. "That's not going to get you very far."

-- -- --

EDITOR'S NOTE -- Associated Press writers Kristen Hays in Houston, Liz Austin in Austin and Suzanne Gamboa in Washington, National Writer Matt Crenson in New York and photographer Paul Sancya contributed to this story.

[IronMan04]

Having lived in New Orleans a good part of my life I know what roads you can and cannot take for an evacuation.

I-10 East- Goes straight to Mississippi and would slow the evacuation from the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Bad Idea unless you want to kill many people in Mississippi.

The Causeway is 26 miles long and if you are still on the Causeway when a hurricane is approaching you, your family and everyone on the bridge would be dead.

I-10 West. Works very well.

[Peach]

So you are from New Orleans and yet you posted there is only one road out of New Orleans. Interesting.

I see you have done nothing for 2 plus weeks but post on Hurricane threads and defending Nagin. Do you work for him?

[SaintDismas]

"Houston, we have a problem". I know everybody thinks of that line in that Tom Hanks movie about NASA moon trip and that's fine and dandy I guess when folks are thinking about Houston, TX, but me? Heck no, I CAN'T STOP SINGING THAT RONNIE MILSAP TUNE ABOUT HOUSTON AND ITS DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!!!! (Houston Solution) LOL

I HAVE SOME FRIENDS DOWN IN HOUSTON
WHO KNOW ME QUITE WELL
THEY'D BE MORE THAN HAPPY
TO PUT ME UP FOR A SPELL
I CAN HANG OUT, OR HIDE OUT
WHICHEVER I CHOOSE
AND THEY WON'T ASK ME QUESTIONS
NOT WHILE I'VE GOT THE BLUES

I GOTTA HOUSTON SOLUTION IN MIND
ALL IT TAKES IS A CALL ON THE TELEPHONE LINE
I CAN LEAVE ALL THESE PROBLEMS IN NASHVILLE BEHIND
I GOTTA HOUSTON SOLUTION IN MIND

Love that Ronnie Milsap. Anybody heard anything about him lately?

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

You and the media don't need to worry about us, we can do that. If there is a dirty bomb attack, worry where you will get gas for a couple of years since the mid west, east, and far west are too good to refine their own.

[laotzu]

Thanks for the info. God bless.

[IronMan04]

I am not defending Nagin however, he is the best mayor the city has had in 30 years. However, I will defend the people of New Orleans who cooperated together and got out of the city on time.

Nagin while a Democrat endorsed Bobby Jindal (R) who ran against Blanco.

[UCANSEE2]

Face it the Democratic Mayors or Houston and Galveston Failed to Evacuate all their people just and the Democratic Mayor or New Orleans failed to Evacuate all of his people.

(ti si ont ncessayr ot sepll wrods ni ethir crorect odrer)

They evacuated everyone possible.

They took care of the weak first.

The Mayors do not have mindless robots as citizens (well, some are) who obey an evacuation order.

I SAY, in the case of TEXAS, MONEY WELL SPENT.

[q_an_a]

We must have been on the road together. I started on a Wednesday afternoon and had to get off at Huntsville 4 1/2 hours later. That was more than 25 years ago and this looked pretty good to me.

[IronMan04]

So if you were in New Orleans before Katrina would you have taken I-10 East and blocked the MS Evacuation or over the Lake and been washed off the Causeway?

[IronMan04]

Kudos to the Democratic Mayors of Houston and Galveston!

[Peach]

So how do you feel about those New Orleans cops who just fled in fear?

How about those cops who looted television sets?

How about Nagin ignoring his own plan and not using buses to evacuate people from nursing homes?

How about Nagin being on television for several nights when the hurricane first hit, instead of being in a command center?

How do you feel about Blanco refusing entry to the Red Cross and Salvation Army and letting people go without food and water in the Dome?

And you must be so pleased that Blanco refused to ask for federal troops for so many days. I wonder how many little children were raped and killed because she let civil disobedience turn into chaos.

Yes. I can see all your arguments about how much better New Orleans handled things than Houston. And I think you must be working for someone in the government in New Orleans.

And let me tell you, the corruption in New Orleans is the worst in the nation and it's been exposed for the entire nation to see and if you think taxpayers are going to just willingly hand over their hard earned money to the lousy politicians to mis-spend again, without some oversight, you're nuts.

[luckystarmom]

New Orleans is a small city compared to Houston area.

It should take longer to evacuate Houston.

[Peach]

Exactly. Houston evacuated nearly three times as many people as New Orleans.

And it didn't take the President of the United States of America to force a mandatory evacuation either, like it did in Louisiana.

[KingKongCobra]

Wow. Nicely done.

[luckystarmom]

Don't forget the two million people in the Galveston and coastal areas that have to go through Houston.

[Peach]

Thank you. I'm "in a mood". LOL

[IronMan04]

I will not defend Blanco.

Yes, New Orleans is Corrupt.

However, I nor my friends or family needed the Nanny State to Evacuate us from the City. In fact, I was on the phone with family and friends on Friday night and Saturday morning making sure all had a way out.

The people worked together and saved their own lives.

[IronMan04]

Two Million People Live in Galveston?

[KingKongCobra]

I think I'll go do some work in the yard before I say something to Mr. SOS that gets me a timeout. My wife always tells me to have more patience with people but I just can't abide ignorance.

[laotzu]

Thanks for the help.