First, once you leave the Houston metropolitan area, the interstates narrow to 2-3 lanes in each direction.
Second, where would the people go? How many hotel rooms are available along I-45, Hwy-59, and I-10 eastbound?
I can imagine the backups just from people thinking they are far enough away and trying to exit the freeways, only to find all the hotel rooms occupied by those ahead of them on the road. They have to get back on the freeway and keep trying.
I just don't think there are a million hotel rooms between Houston and Dallas. People would have to keep driving all the way to Oklahoma to find a place to stay.
-PJ
I think they could have order an evacuation of anyone in a 500 year floodplain. That would have meant they could concentrate on rescues where flooding is happening on higher ground outside those zones, and it would not have been a mass evacuation like the Rita fiasco.
Are there even that many empty hotel rooms in the country?
And there are still fewer deaths from staying in place than the dozens killed evacuating in the 05' Rita panic.
Since this is the first hurricane in the history of the country it’s not unusual no one has thought of possible evacuation solutions.
Here’s one - churches’ could set up ‘sister city’ agreement WITH OTHER CHURCHES WITHIN THEIR OWN DENOMINATION.
A middle class church could set up a swap with a middle class church in a similar city. An inner city black church with an inner city black church... Same with Catholics, Unitarians, etc. The idea would be to decrease the stress of evacuees by creating a safe and comfortable evacuation option.
IMO, one does not have to evac millions of people. My best guess is 500k, 800k tops. I’m guessing most can be shuffled around the area, and some drive or shipped out; ask for military assistance where it can help.
They open lanes on the left side for outbound traffic, but it’s still too many vehicles.