Hurricane safety--How far from coast? (Houston, San Antonio: live, safe, move)

[TX4now]

OK, I live between Houston and Galveston now. The hurricane evacuation in '05 was a nightmare that I'm not willing to repeat.

Assuming that I stay in Texas (with flat coastal plains--ie nothing to slow a hurricane down), how far inland do you think I'd have to be in order to be pretty safe from hurricane threats?

I've been thinking that if I stay inland of a line from Lufkin-Huntsville-San Antonio-Laredo that MOST storms will be pretty much harmless by the time they reach me.

Opinions?

[5stones]

most small storms won't even effect Houston that much. But heck a big storm can wreak havoic A LONG way.

Remeber IVAN? I lived in Pittsburg PA and we had MAJOR flooding there due to rain from IVAN! The town of Carnegie was under 16 ft of water!

So for the most part yes, North of Houston you should be fine, most of the wind etc... will get broken up and weaken and the rain will dissapate. But TEXAS as whole has a severve flooding problem, not just associated with Hurricanes.... check your flood zone.

[mpope409]

Originally Posted by TX4now

OK, I live between Houston and Galveston now. The hurricane evacuation in '05 was a nightmare that I'm not willing to repeat.

Assuming that I stay in Texas (with flat coastal plains--ie nothing to slow a hurricane down), how far inland do you think I'd have to be in order to be pretty safe from hurricane threats?

I've been thinking that if I stay inland of a line from Lufkin-Huntsville-San Antonio-Laredo that MOST storms will be pretty much harmless by the time they reach me.

Opinions?

There are even parts of Houston and it's northwestern suburbs that shouldn't be damaged or harmed by a hurricane.

[I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA]

Originally Posted by TX4now

OK, I live between Houston and Galveston now. The hurricane evacuation in '05 was a nightmare that I'm not willing to repeat.

Assuming that I stay in Texas (with flat coastal plains--ie nothing to slow a hurricane down), how far inland do you think I'd have to be in order to be pretty safe from hurricane threats?

I've been thinking that if I stay inland of a line from Lufkin-Huntsville-San Antonio-Laredo that MOST storms will be pretty much harmless by the time they reach me.

Opinions?

The direction you go should depend on the projected path of the storm and just where it makes land fall. I think you want to go west. I know in 2005 even Lufkin had some damage from Rita. Also you have to consider the strength of the storm.

[TX4now]

Sorry, I didn't clarify that I'm talking about making a permanent household move from my present location to a "pretty safe" other Texas location (to be determined).

I realize that there will always be the possibility of some bizarre storm producing bizarre effects at bizarre distances inland from the coast, which is why I am saying "pretty safe" rather than "100% safe".

Maybe what I mean to ask is how far away from the coast do you have to be to be 100% sure that they won't try to force you to evacuate?

Thanks for the responses so far, please keep the opinions coming!

[I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA]

Originally Posted by TX4now

Sorry, I didn't clarify that I'm talking about making a permanent household move from my present location to a "pretty safe" other Texas location (to be determined).

I realize that there will always be the possibility of some bizarre storm producing bizarre effects at bizarre distances inland from the coast, which is why I am saying "pretty safe" rather than "100% safe".

Maybe what I mean to ask is how far away from the coast do you have to be to be 100% sure that they won't try to force you to evacuate?

Thanks for the responses so far, please keep the opinions coming!

Oh, I thought you were asking where to go during the storm. If you're trying escape hurricanes maybe you should go to Colorado. I don't blame you for wanting to leave Texas.

[Aquajox]

We moved to San Antonio from Seattle a year ago, and one of our criteria when picking a city to relocate to was "close enough to the beach, but far enough from the hurricanes." The locals tell me that the hurricanes have never been a problem here.

[Marlow]

Not to be a doomsayer, but if I'm not mistaken, Hurricane Gilbert in about 1987 or 88 caused lots of tornados in San Antonio. People evacuating from CC to SA got caught in really bad weather there. I understand trying to minimize exposure to bad weather there are no guarantees anywhere!