I am in Texas and mandatory evacuation was put into effect for those of us near the coast during Hurricane Rita. They said that in the future, pets would be allowed - I guess in evacuation buses.
There is one sad aspect of this that has not been mentioned. During the Hurricane Rita evacuation it was taking over 16 hours for a regular 3 hour drive. Cars were often moving only a few miles an hour making it necessary to turn off the air conditioning so the motors wouldn't overheat.
In 100 degree Texas heat many animals died in the cars and people were seen laying them by the side of the road!! You were not allowed off of the main evacuation route, no food, no water, no gasoline and no restrooms.
That was one of the dumbest plans because most of us could have been using small roads to take shortcuts to where we were going!
Many people will never go through that again and will stay at their homes during a hurricane! Texas evacuation was considered 'orderly' so I can't even imagine what they went through during Katrina.
That's horrible!