People who stayed during the hurricane... (Houston, San Antonio: motel, new house, living)

[terraaus]

Please help me to understand why some people decided to hunker down during the hurricane instead of evacuating. I'm sure there are a lot of reasons, both good and bad. Were there options for those who could not afford to leave? Were there free buses to take people to faraway shelters? Would they be provided free food and water while away? Were they offered free transportation back home? Were private citizens offering to transport people in need of rides? I'm trying to answer my daughter's questions.

If I were able to leave the area but chose not to, I would not be able to look my family in the eye if they were now in harms way because of my actions, or should I say inaction? I'm sure they would also lose respect for me. I will say that until recently I was caring for my elderly Dad with dementia. Towards the end he was pretty much comatose in my home. I do not know how I could have evacuated in that instance.

[Whyrallnamestaken]

If you watched TV, it has been nonstop news concerning the hurricane. One woman in the area where Harvey made landfall said they couldn't afford to leave. It takes money for gas, a motel or you stay in your car, and food, etc.

The unpredictablity of Harvey made it hard to decide which way to evacuate.

I've heard people say they are staying to protect their belongings from looters.

[oceangaia]

1. It is not easy to evacuate a region of millions of people. There are not enough busses and shelters for that many people.

2. Evacuating is not risk-free. Over 100 people died during the evacuation for Hurricane Rita.

3. High winds were never a threat to Houston area in this storm.

4. Evacuate where? This storm is so widespread that any areas within 3 hours of Houston are also affected.

[ScoPro]

^^^ What he/she said.


For one thing, Harvey ballooned from a "nothing" tropical depression supposedly heading for Mexico up to a Cat 4 hurricane heading for somewhere on the coastline of Texas (which is over 350 miles long) in less than two days. Its behavior caught ALL of the hurricane wonks by surprise.

Plus the fact that the mayor of Houston did not order an evacuation - he remembered what happened with the last two hurricanes that hit the area.

[KathrynAragon]

Plus you have 1) Pets. 2) People with mobility issues. 3) People staying because other loved ones are refusing to leave.

It's just terrible to watch. I feel helpless watching this unfold.

[nana053]

Parts of Brazoria are now under an evacuation order.

Brazoria County Judge Matt Sebesta has issued a MANDATORY EVACUATION for all residents living WEST of State Highway 288 and SOUTH of State Highway 6.

An evacuation route has been established for State Highway 35 Westbound to Matagorda County to Northbound State Highway 71 reaching Interstate 10. Refer to map. THERE ARE NO OTHER EVACUATION ROUTES OUT OF Brazoria County. State Highway 35 WILL NOT be open indefinitely and will be unpassable with additional rains and river flooding. LEAVE NOW!

Residents needing a place to go can shelter in Bell County. Self-Evacuation destination in Bell County will be the EXPO CENTER, 301 West Loop, Belton, Texas. Pets are welcome!

[move4ward]

Originally Posted by oceangaia

1. It is not easy to evacuate a region of millions of people. There are not enough busses and shelters for that many people.

2. Evacuating is not risk-free. Over 100 people died during the evacuation for Hurricane Rita.

3. High winds were never a threat to Houston area in this storm.

4. Evacuate where? This storm is so widespread that any areas within 3 hours of Houston are also affected.

You are on point.

These out-of-towners have no idea. Hurricane Rita was a mess. Other storms were much less fatal, when Houston hunkered down.

[timtemtym]

Originally Posted by nana053

Parts of Brazoria are now under an evacuation order.

Brazoria County Judge Matt Sebesta has issued a MANDATORY EVACUATION for all residents living WEST of State Highway 288 and SOUTH of State Highway 6.

My parents are west of 288 but north of Highway 6 a few miles. They are still not flooded, just some ponding in the streets and electricity is on. They are ok so far and staying put. Not sure what will happen. They could leave at any time in my dad's big truck to head west to San Antonio or other places where we have tons of family, but they don't.

[Crashj007]

Originally Posted by Whyrallnamestaken

If you watched TV, it has been nonstop news concerning the hurricane. One woman in the area where Harvey made landfall said they couldn't afford to leave. It takes money for gas, a motel or you stay in your car, and food, etc.
The unpredictablity of Harvey made it hard to decide which way to evacuate.
I've heard people say they are staying to protect their belongings from looters.

One report said when they evacuated before, for Rita this happened:
How Hurricane Rita anxiety led to the worst gridlock in Houston history - Houston Chronicle
Maybe 100 people died in that evacuation according to ABC. Moving 2.5 million people would saturate the southwest with refugees.
My daughter and her husband stayed because they were afraid he would get fired if he failed to show up for work. They think their new house is high enough to be safe. So far they are dry and employed.

[Grainraiser]

It is impossible to evacuated 6 million in 48hrs. During Hurricane Rita many folks still had Katrina on their minds and they tried to get out. I-45 is the main corridor leaving Houston going north. The traffic was so bad that most folks ran out of gas on the interstate trying to leave. Getting everyone out of a major metropolitan area like Houston is nearly a impossible task.