Were There Evacuation Orders for Houston before the Storm?

[tibbir]

96. I live in Houston and I think you're missing something

When Hurricane Rita approached the Gulf Coast in 2005, Houston was given the order to evacuate and, having seen the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans just before this, a great portion of the city's population attempted to leave. My son and I did as well. We didn't even get halfway out of town before being stopped by a MASSIVE traffic jam. Luckily we were able to turn around and go home to ride out the storm, which turned out to be very minor in the scheme of things. I believe that there were about 120 or 150 deaths from Rita and, of that, about 100 were from people trying to evacuate.

Gas stations ran out of fuel and cars ran out of gas. People were trapped with their cars on the side of the road in 95-100 degree heat - which Houston's humidity can feel like as much as 110 degrees. Being in the middle of nowhere or by businesses that were closed for the storm, there was nowhere for them to go.

People who live on the coast, where there could be a storm surge, NEED to leave if a hurricane threatens but Mayor Turner made the right call (and I'm NOT a Mayor Turner fan).