why didn't everyone in texas just leave?

i do not watch the news, i must admit. but i do go on instagram, and i see all these people with the 'pray for texas' posts. (anytime an event happens, and i see a PRAY FOR, well then i know, its no longer about the event, its about that.)

anyways, i want everyone safe, but why didnt the people just hop up and drive away? i assume its safe just 15 miles away. hell, its gotta be better sitting in your car at some rest stop than sitting in water waiting for a boat.

no offense, but am i the only person with a massive network of friends and family? i have dozens of places to crash tonite if need be. i can knock on someone's door at 11, 12, or even 2am asking for the couch.

a reply to: dantanna

There are several million people in Houston alone. There is no way to put that many people on the road at the same time, and have them actually move anywhere. Houston traffic is horrible with a tiny fraction of that many people on the roads.

a reply to: dantanna

Because the entire city of Houston can't "just leave" as there are too many of them. It clogs the highways and they end up riding out the storm in their cars in a highway parking lot. Last time they evacuated for Rita, over 100 people died during evac.

Rita Evac Deaths

This article doesn't even address properly a bad bus fire full of old people! Here is another source on those bus deaths specifically.

Bus Deaths

a reply to: dantanna

Democrat Houston Mayor avoided calling for Houston's EVAC...even though the Republican Governor advised it.

a reply to: dantanna

No offense mate but your post is extremely naieve.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: dantanna

There are several million people in Houston alone. There is no way to put that many people on the road at the same time, and have them actually move anywhere. Houston traffic is horrible with a tiny fraction of that many people on the roads.

Glad you said that. Atlanta developed an evacuation plan not too long ago.
The only problem ? It would take days for it to happen . (if not a week or longer)

15 miles! Seriously? It's about 85 driving miles to The Woodlands from Galveston. You need to watch the news. Or read. Or something.

originally posted by: 4003fireglo

You need to watch the news. Or read. Or something.

I would suggest he start by looking out a window, then progressing to the harder things from there.

a reply to: dantanna

but why didnt the people just hop up and drive away?

Because getting six million people (and change) to "up and drive away" is sort of a big deal in every possible sense of the phrase.

i assume its safe just 15 miles away.

Try looking at a map sometime, it's educational.

its gotta be better sitting in your car at some rest stop than sitting in water waiting for a boat.

Which tends to happen when over six million people all try to move at one time. I dunno about you, but I'd take the roof of my house over my vehicle when it comes to "what's going to stay above water longer."

A little story for you.
I was traveling north on a major roadway in my State when the emergency alerts started going off. A tornado was heading to the exact location near where I was . What did the other folks on the road do ? They stopped blocking all lanes for about 400 yds. Just stopped in a completely open area with a tornado heading our way and stayed in their vehicles. Panicked.
Now apply that to a hurricane and a major city with millions of folks.

a reply to: dantanna

Yellowstone is a supervolcano which is active.

Have you left the States yet?

originally posted by: dantanna
anyways, i want everyone safe, but why didnt the people just hop up and drive away? i assume its safe just 15 miles away. hell, its gotta be better sitting in your car at some rest stop than sitting in water waiting for a boat.

No. It's a hurricane. They can be pretty large.

no offense, but am i the only person with a massive network of friends and family? i have dozens of places to crash tonite if need be. i can knock on someone's door at 11, 12, or even 2am asking for the couch.

Not everyone has it as good as you I guess. Maybe you need to get out more and see how rough some people have it.

originally posted by: chr0naut
a reply to: dantanna

Yellowstone is a supervolcano which is active.

Have you left the States yet?

The sun is going to go supernova in a few billion years, better get packing.

In addition to the size of the population, the cluster f*ck of the resulting traffic jam, the expense, etc... How do you predict where the storm will go?

I for one don't buy into those criticizing Houston for failing to evacuate.

originally posted by: mOjOm

Not everyone has it as good as you I guess. Maybe you need to get out more and see how rough some people have it.

The OP sounds really young to me, without too much world experience beyond Instagram.

Not saying this is bad (except for Instagram....seriously mate wtf?) only that the OP is extremely naieve because of this. One would hope age and education changes this.

Houston is the 4th largest city in the entire United States...

The fact only a dozen or so people have died thus far is astonishing and a testament to Houstonians excellence...

It's hard to talk to people about weather to those who don't live in an environmentally dangerous area…
For instance, I live in the heart of tornado alley in North Texas…
And my wife's relatives from the north are appalled by our apathy regarding tornadoes and tornado warnings...

But the fact is I've seen [in person] at least 15 tornadoes and alarms go off every year multiple times and we mostly go into our tornado room, a bathroom at the center of our house, but only after going outside to see if it's worth worrying about…

Since I'm a lifelong Texan I can only assume the people of Houston share my sensibilities and probably look at hurricanes much like I view tornadoes…

Chris

a reply to: dantanna

Problem is a lot of their friends have the same problem they are flooded. This storm cover as half of Texas and in to luisianna I think you fail to see the scope of the storm. In a smaller state like most if the east coast this storm would flood several states.

By the way I think Texas made the right call about not evacuating seems like most of the deaths in katrina was caused by the evacuation

a reply to: Kryties

Yeah. Age, and possibly privilege too.

Everyones in Houston remembered the hurricane Rita evacuation. It was a terrible and possibly the worst traffic jam ever. It took crews a over week to get all the cars off the highways. Most ran out of gas on the highway. It was a mess. Resulting in more deaths.

Safer in the city with the water than in the evacuation line.

Parishes in Southwest Louisiana and counties in Southeast Texas where Rita made landfall suffered from catastrophic-to-severe flooding and wind damage. ... Texas reported the most deaths from the hurricane, where 113 deaths were reported, 107 of which were associated with the evacuation of the Houston metropolitan area.

en.m.wikipedia.org...

originally posted by: mOjOm
a reply to: Kryties

Yeah. Age, and possibly privilege too.

I would be interested to know if the OP tried to go to that Fyre Festival.