Reply #21: TX is doing piddly little things

[rainbow4321]

That may look good on paper but when the time comes this just doesn't seem like it will work at all. Free gas for evacuees...yeah, right, til the stations run out of gas.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/053106dntexfreegas.3d8d823d.html

Some gas stations will let motorists pump for free if their fuel tanks run low during a hurricane evacuation, state officials said Tuesday.

The free fueling plan comes after thousands of cars were left abandoned on the side of highways during Hurricane Rita last year, when more than 3 million people evacuated the Houston area and jammed roads for hours.

Most stations along evacuation routes ran out of gas, making fuel availability a priority in the state's revamped evacuation plan.

Motorists won't be allowed to fill their tanks completely and only vehicles with little fuel remaining will be given access to the free pumps, said Jenniffier Hawes, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety. Drivers looking to top off will be sent to pay at other stations, she said.


http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-hurricane_31met.ART.North.Edition1.1875e894.html

With hurricane season starting this week, Dallas' top emergency official said Tuesday that he has yet to see many details from the state's revamped evacuation plan.

Kenny Shaw, director of the office of emergency management for Dallas, said that among the missing details is how his region is expected to handle an estimated 40,000 evacuees from Harris County in the event of a major disaster.

That number would cover the influx to a 16-county area around Dallas, not just the city, said Kathy Walt, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry. She said there have been two meetings since April in North Texas that discussed the sheltering plan.

Mr. Shaw also said the state never gave him details about a new plan to track evacuees using scannable ID bracelets designed to helped families find loved ones during an evacuation.