Please take a look at my previous comments before Hurricane Rita hit Houston:
First Report
Second Report
I regret that I had responsibilities which prevented me from blogging during the storm. Oh well, it turns out that I was right---and now a number of other people are now starting to agree with me. Tom Kirkendall of Houston Clear Thinkers is coming to his senses:
“My thoughts are more with regard to the plan itself, which during implementation encouraged all Houston residents -- even those in non-mandatory evacuation areas -- to evacuate. The result was that, despite the fact that Houston has the most highway lane-miles per capita of America's large metro areas, dangerous gridlock and accidental deaths occurred, and the area experienced severe gasoline shortages as a result of the huge spike in demand.”
The Rita evacuation advice provided by Mayor Bill White was an act of gross irresponsibility. Simple math was all that’s required to realize that you can’t move millions of people out of a major city. Where are they going to go? Was there supposed to be a space ship to take them to Mars? Many small cities are overwhelmed when even a few thousand fans show up for a college football game. Millions of people? Let’s get serious. Only those who resided in the dangerous areas closer to Galveston should have been encouraged to leave. Those of us like myself living in the higher regions some sixty miles from the coast should have stayed put. A number of Houstonians who were truly in danger were unable to leave because so many others not in similar danger were turning the freeways into a major parking lot.
Little consideration was also given to the financial wherewithal of some who live in the lower areas. They barely have two nickels to rub together. How were they going to leave? Where could they possibly go? Things are bad enough if you are modestly affluent. Who is going to pick up the tab for those who do not possess a major credit card with at least a couple of thousand dollars of credit available?
4 comments:
It's a case of once bitten, twice shy. We're jumpy now. Unless the federal government waves its magic wand and teleports everybody somewhere else, well, then it's just "America's Shame".
David
Initial reports I saw were lauding the mayor for his handling of this situation. I think you are the first blogger I have seen criticize him.
It does sound like there was an over-reaction, understandable perhaps in the wake of Katrina.
In the north (I grew up in Erie, Pa., the heart of the snowbelt) there are "snow routes" which have been preplanned to allow ingress and egress in predictable ways in the event of a blizzard. These routes are plainly marked by sign and maps, and are announced operable in the event of snow emergency.
If I recall correctly, these are based on principles of fluid flow as Knuck suggested.
It seems that this type of thing could be worked out in advance for future emergencies in all metro areas.
Beldar had an interesting map on his post which showed the areas at risk on Thursday 9/22. This indicates they could have had a staged evacuation based on risk, had they had a more elaborate route plan.
Growing up in Oklahoma the only thing we heard was "get under ground now!"
I think more people left Houston than was necessary but at the same time the government is not alone in bearing responsibility for this.
There were people running from Rita that had never evacuated before. No doubt that is why the interstates got so jammed up. Nobody, including the Mayor really expected all those people to hit the road.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
It allows us to criticize the powers that be for not evacuating one city and for evacuating another.
Media driven panic played a part in this as well.
I was watching all that on TV and wondering why more people did not just drive west and wait it out for a day or two? West is the one way that damn storm can not go.
Driving from Houston to Memphis to find a Motel room struck me as bizarre.
We went from America's Shame to America's Gridlock.
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