There could be people going down to help parents or other elderly people board up, get out, or otherwise get ready. On Tuesday the mother of a guy where I work called from Galveston frantically trying to get in touch with him. He left immediately and I assume he has evacuated her and as much stuff as he could get in his truck.
A lady here at work whose daughter is at UT-Austin said the dorms have opened up to relatives of residents--you can take in your parents, siblings, etc. with no problems.
It would be a nightmare to try and get out now. I have friends who are going to try and drive to Dallas tonight from Sugarland. They waited so long because the husband is sick and homebound and doesn't like to leave the house. But now they are at best going to lose power and he can't tolerate no a/c because of his illness. I think they should have gotten out earlier, but I can understand how they thought they could ride it out.
I live 30 miles east of Austin off of 71 and it looks like rush hour traffic going into Austin 24X7 - where are all of these people staying?? Wal-Mart is apparently redirecting some Houston deliveries toward our area - now we have to feed 1/2 of New Orleans and Houston!
Maybe, emphasizing public transportation more wouold help. We are going to have to come up with good evacuation plans for major cities.