White House thinks Houston evacuation went well!!!

New Posts

Dark Knight

Dark Knight

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2004
Messages
21,649
Reaction score
82
(AP) White House press secretary Scott McClellan on Saturday rejected the notion that there were problems with Houston's evacuation and said the president was told it had gone well. He also stressed that states are responsible for evacuations, although the federal government has a role to assist local officials.

"This was an unprecedented number of people who were being evacuated," McClellan said Sunday. "And they got a large number of people out of there.
 
Tell that to the people who spent hours and hours sitting on the freeway burning up all their gasoline.
 
Dark Knight said:
(AP) White House press secretary Scott McClellan on Saturday rejected the notion that there were problems with Houston's evacuation and said the president was told it had gone well. He also stressed that states are responsible for evacuations, although the federal government has a role to assist local officials.

"This was an unprecedented number of people who were being evacuated," McClellan said Sunday. "And they got a large number of people out of there.
Click to expand...
I guess that we really didn't see what we saw, huh?
 
The problem with the evacuation was that those that were told to voluntarily evacuate did so before those that were under the manditory evacuation were able to get out. Had it been staggered a bit more, it would have been so bad. But that was precisely the reason we stayed put. I had no desire to sit in that traffic.

I will say that Houston, a city of over 4 million, and surrounding areas with another probably 2 million, is a lot to evacuate. IMO there will always be problems getting that many people out of one place smoothly.
 
How would ya'll have handled it? Get that many people out of one town in a couple of days' time without anyone sitting on the highway. I'm ready to be dazzled . . .
 
I also think they had many more leave than they had planned on - especially after witnessing Katrina just weeks before.
 
Well, for starters all the lanes need to be made one-way early on; with one lane left open for incoming tankers, food deliveries, etc.

Families can take only one car out.

Gas tankers need nozzles that can fit into cars.

And be sure to take your porta-potty with you.
(Maybe Bush has never had to feel "uncomfortable", stuck in traffic?)
 
I think they did a damn good job considering the millions of people they were dealing with. Also, there were panicing people leaving that didn't really need to leave that just added to the congestion.
 
kato said:
I think they did a damn good job considering the millions of people they were dealing with. Also, there were panicing people leaving that didn't really need to leave that just added to the congestion.
Click to expand...


Yup, me too.
 
Those who experienced it thought it was horrendous. They did a good job of evacuating Galveston and the coastal areas, but Houston was a problem. Many could not get gasoline to get out.

If it had been a terrorist attack or other disaster with little warning, people could not have gotten out. There were not real instructions on who should leave in Houston, and who could stay.

Kay Bailey Hutchison, R- Texas: "I think we need to fine-tune the planning so that contra-lanes are open earlier so that all the outgoing traffic can go on both sides of a freeway earlier than was done for Rita.."

An article about the evacuation: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3366164
 
kato said:
I think they did a damn good job considering the millions of people they were dealing with. Also, there were panicing people leaving that didn't really need to leave that just added to the congestion.
Click to expand...
I agree with you. I think another thing that added to the congestion was the fact that many of these people evacuated with 2,3 or more vehicles per family.
 
Even tho the evac prooved to me gridlock and a massive PITA the fact that loss of life from the Hurricane was at a minimum made the evac successful IMO
 
If the hurricane had not veered to the right as it did, I imagine things would have been a bit different in Houston. As it was, it didn't get much weather.

Did Lake Charles evacuate; I know it had alot of flooding. It is much smaller though.
 
Marthatex said:
Those who experienced it thought it was horrendous. They did a good job of evacuating Galveston and the coastal areas, but Houston was a problem. Many could not get gasoline to get out.

If it had been a terrorist attack or other disaster with little warning, people could not have gotten out. There were not real instructions on who should leave in Houston, and who could stay.

Kay Bailey Hutchison, R- Texas: "I think we need to fine-tune the planning so that contra-lanes are open earlier so that all the outgoing traffic can go on both sides of a freeway earlier than was done for Rita.."

An article about the evacuation: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3366164
Click to expand...

Well the simple fact of the matter is when you move that many people out of an area that quickly, there are going to be delays and shortages and while I'm sure that it wasn't a pleasant experience, compared to the absolutely horrendous conditions in Louisiana after Katrina, things were pretty smooth.
 
Jeana (DP) said:
Well the simple fact of the matter is when you move that many people out of an area that quickly, there are going to be delays and shortages and while I'm sure that it wasn't a pleasant experience, compared to the absolutely horrendous conditions in Louisiana after Katrina, things were pretty smooth.
Click to expand...

:clap: :clap: :clap:

You got it!

There is always room for improvement, in anything, but I think the problems encountered were to be expected.
 
Jules said:
:clap: :clap: :clap:

You got it!

There is always room for improvement, in anything, but I think the problems encountered were to be expected.
Click to expand...

Ditto to the above 2 posts.
 
Jules said:
I also think they had many more leave than they had planned on - especially after witnessing Katrina just weeks before.
Click to expand...


Exactly
 
Just sitting here reading the posts, it seems that Texans here on WS who were involved are the least critical of the evacuation. I would say that many things can be learned from such a huge evacuation and improvements can be made to other evacuation plans. Rather than criticize negatively, implement suggestions for the next mass evacuation, wherever it may occur.

I know that many who evacuated in Florida for many storms up to Andrew, stoically endured traffic and finding a place to stay. They took responsibility for getting themselves out. We were told for years and years to prepare for every hurricane season. Batteries, hurricane lanterns, canned goods, sterno stoves and plenty of sterno for cooking, storing water, keeping clutter to a minimum, and TOPPING OFF YOUR GAS TANK! Fortunately, we never had to evacuate where we lived, but did endure a week or two without power. I had many a meal cooked on a little sterno stove.

Folks, perfection cannot be achieved. Even the best plans have to take into account the human factor. Some people will just NOT comply whether they don't leave or just not follow the orderly plan laid out for a smooth evacuation. That's human nature and unfortunately we can't change it.
 
BarnGoddess said:
Just sitting here reading the posts, it seems that Texans here on WS who were involved are the least critical of the evacuation. I would say that many things can be learned from such a huge evacuation and improvements can be made to other evacuation plans. Rather than criticize negatively, implement suggestions for the next mass evacuation, wherever it may occur.

I know that many who evacuated in Florida for many storms up to Andrew, stoically endured traffic and finding a place to stay. They took responsibility for getting themselves out. We were told for years and years to prepare for every hurricane season. Batteries, hurricane lanterns, canned goods, sterno stoves and plenty of sterno for cooking, storing water, keeping clutter to a minimum, and TOPPING OFF YOUR GAS TANK! Fortunately, we never had to evacuate where we lived, but did endure a week or two without power. I had many a meal cooked on a little sterno stove.

Folks, perfection cannot be achieved. Even the best plans have to take into account the human factor. Some people will just NOT comply whether they don't leave or just not follow the orderly plan laid out for a smooth evacuation. That's human nature and unfortunately we can't change it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, like right now they are telling people to not come back til it's time for your quadrant. People aren't gonna listen they're gonna hit the road cuz they wanna get back home. Well, I didn't evacuate and all is/was well on my side of town.
 
Marthatex said:
Well, for starters all the lanes need to be made one-way early on; with one lane left open for incoming tankers, food deliveries, etc.

Families can take only one car out.

Gas tankers need nozzles that can fit into cars.

And be sure to take your porta-potty with you.
(Maybe Bush has never had to feel "uncomfortable", stuck in traffic?)
Click to expand...
Oh my God! He banned porta potties?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Members online

... and 158 more.
Total: 3,994 (members: 159, guests: 3,835)

Online statistics

Members online
159
Guests online
3,835
Total visitors
3,994
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
591,658
Messages
17,957,125
Members
228,582
Latest member
G14-Classified
Back
Top