Is a disaster in the works on Texas hiway?

[Atman]

What the hell happens to the hundreds of thousands of families stuck in their cars on that stretch of hiway when the storm moves in? I'd be hoping I was near somebody towing a boat!

[daninthemoon]

1. For some reason your first line flashed me to the highway out of

Kuwait in OilWar I.

[MSgt213]

2. Looks like it to me.

[EFerrari]

3. 98 degrees. Oh, but global warming isn't a problem.

:eyes:

[TwilightZone]

7. It's hot in Texas, even in September.

The average high for Houston in Sept. is 89. Mid-to-upper 90s this time of year have always been pretty common.

[Zynx]

14. I once made the mistake of going on vacation down there in August.

I thought I was going to die just walking from the rental car to the hotel.

[julialnyc]

4. FEMA should be working its ass off to get gas to the stuck cars

who can't move and will eventually stop all traffic from going at the snails pace it is going right now

[Lisa]

9. ... and water, and ice packs

Some of those cars are packed with kids and elderly people -- and no AC.

[Atman]

12. The water and ice is sitting in a truckstop in MAINE.

At $800 a day.

Now THAT was a good decision! Whomever called that one deserves a medal of freedom!

[Sweet Freedom]

5. Last night I was worried

that I made a mistake when I decided to stay and ride it out. Today, I am so thankful I am not in that mess on the highway.

[Geoff R. Casavant]

15. I heard that!

My wife and I are feeling both lucky and proud we didn't give in to the panic.

[Sweet Freedom]

19. Stay safe Geoff! /nt

[watercolors]

17. took my brother-in-law 12 hours

He left Columbia last night for Dallas, had two dogs with him. My sister remained behind she is a nurse at Bayside Hospital. I hope she will be OK.

[jody]

6. NO WAY! A Repug governor and president have assured us everything

is under control. :sarcasm:

[rzemanfl]

8. You've got old people, sick people, pregnant women and little

kids out for 12 hours plus in 98 degree heat with no air conditioning unless the car is running, nowhere to go to the bathroom except the side of the road. Then you'll have people who are sleep-deprived, frustrated, dirty, hungry, worried and tired driving all night at high speeds once they get to a clear highway. This looks like another Republican cluster-fuck that will kill a lot of people. There was no plan, they just said to get in the car and go...

And 100+ TSA baggage screeners failed to show up for work at the airport today resulting in long lines and flight delays. Don't these folks work for HOMELAND SECURITY?

[A-Possum]

10. Yes

And it's been in the works since Monday, when evac should have started in an orderly way (planned ahead! *gasp*)

The gov says he's sending in tankers with gas, but how are they going to get to the cars now?

I have never been more miserable to say, "I told you so," but I've been telling people to leave NOW since Sunday. Including my sister's ex, who waited until SCHOOL WAS OUT on Wednesday to start out with his mother and my beloved nephew. D*mn him for an idiot. Like one f*cking day of school makes a diff. His office was closed, they should have left Tuesday nite. They have a place to go in Dallas. I called him Sunday nite and left a message TELLING him exactly how it would be. Pffft. Haven't heard from them, don't know where they are now. Arrrgh.

[TexasLady]

11. according to KHOU

online, its already turning into a mess on the highway. and it IS hot.
they showed folks UNDER bridges this time instead of on top of em like NOLA.

But every single person in charge saying 'all is well'...lather rinse repeat, lather rinse repeat....

[jpak]

13. Asphalt Superdome

only this time the looters will be...

I have been terrified that something like this would happen to the FL Panhandle - there was absolutely NO gasoline in Pensacola for nearly 2 weeks after Katrina (or gas cans for that matter).

If an evacuation had been ordered, I-65 N out of Pensacola and Mobile would have been a parking lot - rescue and recovery would be nearly impossible and people would surely die of heat-related causes (or in the storm itself).

My philosophy is this: if you are going to evacuate - do it early - 2 days before even the voluntary evacs are ordered - and have at least 2 tank-fulls worth of gas on hand, a week's worth of food and water and alternate travel routes out of harm's way...

[pitohui]

16. they lie

they tell ppl to evac & they didn't even bother to contraflow until this afternoon

they laughed at we ignorant ppl in louisiana but you know what, when we evac'd we had damn contraflow working as did mississippi all the way to brookhaven mississippi

these fools had ppl in houston evac wed evening & thurs morning, w. no contraflow until thursday AFTERNOON

"i've been in traffic 9 hrs to go 28 miles w. 2 sheepdogs in 98 degrees weather"

a lot of ppl are going to die in this evac of blood clots, heat exhaustion, etc

and that's before the wind starts

one of my friends died evacuating for katrina & traffic was flowing, keeping such deaths to a minimum, mark my words, ppl are dying right now in this mess & you won't hear one word abt it unless you know the person

but we're told "all is well" & "we learned our lesson" on the teevee, they are going to lie & say the texas evac is working just great because it's a republican state

they have no shame

[A-Possum]

18. Agreed n/t