Were There Evacuation Orders for Houston before the Storm?

[RandomAccess]

32. Turns out that's a bit of a problem -

And I predict some very difficult political prices to pay, even though evacuation would've been quite problematic too.

Houston Told People to Stay for Harvey, Now They Can't Get Out
http://www.thedailybeast.com/houston-told-people-to-stay-for-harvey-now-they-cant-get-out


Two days ago, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told Houston residents that even in the absence of an official evacuation order “you need to strongly consider evacuating.”

But there was immediate pushback from Houston officials who said they knew better.

Harris County’s emergency management spokesperson, Francisco Sanchez, responded to Abbott’s suggestion on Twitter this way:

“Local officials know best. Houston has no evacuation order. In Harris County: very limited to select communities. LOCAL LEADERS KNOW BEST.”

snip

By Sunday morning, thousands of Houston homes were taking on water and thousands of people were trapped in their homes. Mayor Turner said that the city had received more than 2,000 calls to 911 for rescues, acknowledging people may be calling and not getting a response.

Neither Sanchez nor the mayor's office could be reached for comment, though Turner said on Sunday “you can’t put 6.5 million people on the roads,” referring to the population of the metro Houston area.