Woman on CNN just said police not letting people off freeway? WTF!

[SF Bay Area Dem]

CNN just interviewed a woman who is out of gas/out of luck on the side of the freeway due to the traffic jams... I am not surprised by Houston traffic but was surprised when she said police would not allow anyone to exit the freeways for fifty miles?!? Why? Now the side of the road looks like a parking lot with broken down cars who are also out of gas...

So I need to ask Governor Perry (a conservative repuke)... where are the busses? I also wonder what is going to happen to the people who are stuck on the side of the freeway with nowhere to go? Are they going to die in their cars when the storm hits?

[soup]

1. Was it taped? Or is this still going on this morning? n/t

[SF Bay Area Dem]

27. I woke up at 3:30 AM (PST)...

...and turned on CNN and there it was... they were doing an interview on the side of I-45...

[liberal N proud]

2. My guess? it is the cops from the suburbs and they don't

want to let those bums from the inner city in those neighborhoods.

I do not condone this behavior but guessing at their mentality.

[moc]

5. You know, I'm sick of anti-Texas comments

Most Texans are wonderful. If you don't know the area, you don't understand the reasons for what they are doing. Please keep your ignorant comments to yourself.

:mad:

[liberal N proud]

10. My apologies

But, Many affluent suburbs in most any city would act the same way toward the inner city people.
Ignorant comment, I don't see the comment that way as it was an observation of cities in general.
I have been to Huston several times and many of those suburbs to the north are filled with upper class people and if they are like their counterparts in any given city, they are concerned about the inner city people.
Sorry if that I offended you, just the way I see America today unfortunately

[moc]

12. First, it's HOUSTON, not HUSTON.

Being to Houston "several times" doesn't qualify you to judge the nature of the communities they are driving through. I grew up 90 miles nw of Houston. I know the communities well. Many of the small towns between Houston and Dallas are not "wealthy suburbs".

Apology accepted.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[moc]

34. I apologize, truly I do

We're all pretty tense around here. I think I'm just realizing how much. We're worried about our friends and family stuck in Houston. Everyone is tense about how the metroplex will be affected. I'm particularly freaked out about the possibility of tornadoes in North Texas. They scare the crap out of me. I've heard the possibility of twisters is more on the east side of the eye, but we already live in tornado alley, so who knows? :scared: Then there have been multiple anti-Texas comments on DU the last 3-4 days. I'm still emotionally drained from helping Katrina evacuees, so I don't have a whole lot of spare resources as it is.

Anyway, I'm sorry I went off on you. Peace?

[liberal N proud]

35. No problem, we do pray that everyone is safe in any area

struck by these disasters.
I have nothing against Texas, you can't help bu$h claims Texas. The many trips I have made to the state have been very enjoyable.

Keep safe and I do understand the Tornado thing, we lived for many years at the other end of Tornado alley in NE Missouri.

[fasttense]

15. What anti-Texas comments?

The comment about the police keeping people from the burbs wasn't anti-Texas, it was more like anti-officials. I guess I have read a few anti-Texas comments on other posts, but I think it is a reflection of the dislike for the place brush calls home and not a slur meant for all Texans.

Listen, I've got Frist as a Senator and I don't like the hick Tennessee comments but I understand where it comes from so it really doesn't bother me.

[moc]

21. See post below

[lectrobyte]

16. Seems like the comments were directed at suburban police forces,

not Texans in general.

[moc]

20. Again, if you don't know Texas geography, you have no

idea what the folks are driving through. It's just a stupid stupid comment that shows how clueless the original poster (and others) seem to be about Texas. People know it's big, but they truly have no idea until they've been here. I remember the first time I brought my eastcoast raised husband to Texas to meet my parents. We took a small commuter flight from Dallas to College Station. He kept staring out the window in wonder, commenting on how he could see for miles and not see anyone at all.

These aren't suburbs they are driving through. There are very small Texas towns off of I45, but there are miles and miles of nothing as well. Someone gets off the freeway and they likely will get lost in the backroads before they find anyone to help them.

Also, the "cops" on the scene are state police, not local cops.

[lectrobyte]

25. Texas is big, I will give you that.

I lived there for 3 years, and thought it was nice, but too impressed with itself, if you know what I mean.

[kestrel91316]

32. Maybe somebody with a MAP and good NAVIGATIONAL SKILLS

wants to get off the parking lot and take some back roads? Why on earth shouldn't they be allowed to do so? Do we Americans no longer have the right to travel freely? I doubt these folks were getting off the freeway so they could go back to Houston and become a statistic.

Fascist thug cops really irritate me. Betcha it was a white cop and a black driver, too.

[kestrel91316]

33. Maybe somebody with a MAP and good NAVIGATIONAL SKILLS

wants to get off the parking lot and take some back roads? Why on earth shouldn't they be allowed to do so? Do we Americans no longer have the right to travel freely? I doubt these folks were getting off the freeway so they could go back to Houston and become a statistic.

Fascist thug cops really irritate me. Betcha it was a white cop and a black driver, too.

[SF Bay Area Dem]

26. Why the anger? It was a legit comment?

Just curious...

[Mutley]

37. I feel the same but

I know it would be that way everywhere; not just Texas. It would be like that here in Maryland.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

38. I come from another Repub area - and I admit the they are a-holes

I come from Naples Florida - antoher bastion of Republicanism - although I have to say that the Repubs here seem to be very very different from the ones there (or at least the way they appear to be by the people who seem to have the limelight there).

I will freely admit that there are a lot of selfish rich assholes here and they probably outweigh the people who are "nice and kind" people here. Not only do we get scoffed at here by the rest of the country - we get scoffed at by the rest of the state and the rest of the area - and I scoff along with the rest of them. So grow up....

When you live in the death penalty capital, most polluted, last in public education state that is represented by the likes of George W. Bush, Tom Delay and Rick Perry - you do have something to be embarrassed of. YOU personally are not responsible.

I'm ashamed that we have Jeb Bush, Katherine Harris Joe Scarborough - along with several other total jag-offs. I just have to suffer and put up with them and tell others that I am nothing like most of the nimrods here. I try to fight as best as I can. The minority of people who oppose the idiots in Naples are some of the finest people around. We are brave and battle scarred.

So be proud of yourself for being a fighter and surviving amongst the jerks.

[KharmaTrain]

6. I Agree

My never-ending question here...where are these people going? Sure, some have friends or relatives...but motel/hotel rooms are sure to be at a premium and many of these communities are gonna want to hunker down their own communities. If it was your town, you'd be in favor of it...if you're stranded on the road with nowhere to go, it's yet another dead end on a road that never ends.

Fortunately, from what I'm hearing, traffic within Houston has started to ease a bit. Maybe things will be a little more organized today.

[mikeytherat]

3. Exits are blocked for contraflow...

So both inbound and outbound lanes can be used for outbound only. They have to block the exits to minimize the chance of nasty collisions. They have blocked the exits for about 50 miles.

The seeming lack of planning for gas, overheated cars, overheated citizens, well, that's a whole 'nother ball of wax.

mikey_the_rat

[moc]

4. They are bringing tanker trucks to the freeway to supply gas.

If they leave the freeway, there's a high probability they won't be found.

You have to understand that I-45 from Houston to Dallas is sparsely populated from about 20-40 miles north of Houston to about 20-40 miles south of Dallas. So, there are expansive areas for people to get seriously lost and stranded in.

[halobeam]

7. My question is WHEN are they bringing the tanker trucks.

I heard this about 18 hours ago. Only keep hearing "they are coming"... sound familiar?

[moc]

8. Beats me. I'm not saying they're planned well. However, implying

that folks aren't being let off the freeway because of racist local cops (see post above) is uncalled for.

[halobeam]

17. The new superdome freeway...

[Geoff R. Casavant]

18. I agree

Even if the original comment were absolutely 100% true, which I do not believe for an instant, even the most virulent racist wouldn't try that with cameras all around.

[Ouabache]

29. the tankers will get there when the subcontractors of the subcontractors

of the original contractor are found on the internet with a google search. And probably after everyone's money is in the bank and ready for laundering to the Caymans or Switzerland. Of course it is really YOUR money.

[LeftHander]

9. and how is a huge truck going to get there....?

[RC]

11. I heard the tanker trucks have no way to get the gas into the cars.

They are still setup to fill the underground tanks only.

[moc]

14. That's a problem, because there are very few gas stations along I-45

for long stretches once you get out of suburban Houston.

[txindy]

23. Then there's the horrendous complication of a bus catching fire

I don't believe this! Well, I do, but... Wow. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050923/ap_on_re_us/rita_bus_explosion_hk1

[Mend]

13. People will NEVER leave again....

this is what happens in Florida and you learn quickly to stay home no matter what. A hurricane usually lasts only a few hours. You stay home, stock up, check your generator, wait it out, and voila, it has passed through.

[lse7581011]

31. Don't Tell That To Lots of NO Residents! n/t

[Mend]

39. they already know...it wasn't the hurricane, it was the levee

I would get out of the way if I was under sea level

[Sgent]

19. Where

is contraflow? I'm looking at pictures of Houston on NBC, and its all N bound lanes, with no contraflow. Maybe its old...

NBC is now existing Galvaston has closed the causway to the mainland -- emergency vehicles only.

No one will ever evacuate again. This is what happens in hurricane areas. It looks likely to miss Houston -- at least any significant dmg of it. The ONLY reason Nagin was able to get 80% in NOLA was the literal begging, and the bowl effect -- neither Houston nor Galveston suffer from this (although Galveston has its own issues).

[Coyote_Bandit]

24. I know several folks who evacuated from Houston

They all exited the highways and drove the backroads to get to their destinations in west Texas and in Oklahoma. Most left on Tuesday and had trouble traveling on the interstate highway even then. Officials are begging for a major catastrophe if they do not get gas to these folks and allow them to exit off the highways and travel the backroads. You can't get a million or so cars out of the area using only the two major highways. Duh.

[bunny planet]

28. Seems like the freeway is the equivalent of the Superdome and Convention

Centers in NOLA. IN NO, victims were blamed for not evacuating, even though they had no cars. Think they'll now blame the victims for actually evacuating in their cars.

FUBAR!!!
BOHICA!!!

[SoCalDem]

30. A metaphor, really

poor people went on foot to the dome and ended up trapped there..

people with some "means" piled into their wheeled boxes and ended up trapped on a freeway...

[Mutley]

36. Where are the busses? Exactly!!!

If it was the Governor's and the Mayor's fault in NOLA that the busses were not used to get people out then it is Perry's fault that they are not being used in Houston. These f-kers can't have it both ways.

[Stil]

40. Yesterday

When I stopped at a store to rest and figure our next move. I started talking to another family. They were trying to make it to I.H. 10 to stay with family in San Antonio. They passed another evacuation route toward Brownsville and were forced on. No not at gun point, but not given an option because of barricades and police direction. They tryed to get past but the police would not let them. Anyways the did get off finally but had burned up gas going the wrong direction and now worried about having enough gas to make it.