Rita & Reality !

Rita

Gridlock congests Houston roads
Traffic so bad, some evacuees turn around and head home
By Mike Ward

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, September 22, 2005
HOUSTON — The huge evacuation of the Texas' largest city slowed to a crawl early today, as hundreds of thousands of evacuees turned outbound highways into increasingly feverish parking lots.
With less than 24 hours remaining before the outer bands of much-feared Hurricane Rita were to begin hitting Houston, officials reported that all major evacuation routes were jammed — from breakdown lane to shoulder in some sections, as drivers tried to get around the backup.
At the same time, mandatory evacuations were ordered in Liberty County — just northeast of Houston — and in Pasadena and several other surrounding cities, moves that will put hundreds of thousands of additional Texans on the road trying to get out.
Some evacuees were running out of gas enroute, as dozens of gas stations ran dry and closed along the evacuation routes. Many abandoned their cars, and caught rides with others. Others said they had turned around and were trying to head home, snarling inbound traffic, as well.
By 8 a.m., Texas Department of Transportation officials announced plans to turn three major freeways into one way, all-outbound lanes within hours to get traffic flowing again. And Houston emergency officials were exploring the possibility of bringing in tankers to fuel motorists at expressway rest stops or other points.
"We've sat in traffic for seven hours, we're almost out of gas, we're going back while we still have enough gas," said a teary-eyed LaMarque resident Hugo Almondero, who sat in a Galleria parking lot just off Interstate-610 with his wife, three children and two dogs.
His 1986 Chevrolet pickup, loaded with belongings under blue tarps and towing a rented trailer, sat forlornly nearby.
"We got as far west on (Interstate-10) as the Barker Cypress (west of the downtown core). Seven hours," he said. "All the gas stations we saw were out of gas. We were not going to make it out in time.
"Do I want to die in my car? No," he said. "I am finding someplace else to go."
Officials said that by mid-morning, they were making plans to remove median barriers to turn all lanes of I-45 between Conroe and Buffalo, north of Huntsville, into northbound traffic. The same was planned for U.S. 290 northwest of Houston and I-10 West.
Caller after caller to radio and TV stations told much the same story. Police confirmed they were dealing with an increasing number of abandoned vehicles on expressways.
Rather than getting off and losing their place in line, people relieved themselves by the side of the road, as traffic continued crawling ahead. Traffic was so slow on Interstate-45 North that reporters were able to walk from car to car along the freeway to interview drivers.
By early this morning, Harris County emergency evacuation officials were reporting drive-times in hours, not the usual minutes. TV monitors showed gridlock on every outbound freeway.
On Interstate-10 west of downtown Houston, a trip that normally takes 20-minutes was estimated to take six hours. A usual 10-minute trip between two major interchanges in Interstate-610 took an hour.
The west loop from the Galleria to Interstate-45? Five hours.
"There's nothing you can do. I'm scared to death," said Jan Collins, a resident of Kemah, north of Galveston, who started north with her children at 2 a.m. By 7, she was still in north Houston.
"We've seen a lot of cars that have overheated, broken down. There's no gas here. I've got a half a tank and I hope it gets us far enough away.
"But I don't know."
Shea Lamoix, 34, said while most gridlocked drivers have been polite so far, as the storm grows closer he fears that panic will spark road rage. "I want out now, before it gets ugly," he said. "And at this rate, it's going to get really ugly."
Hugo Baranza, who was evacuating far south Houston with his pregnant wife and small child, sat stranded at a closed gas station in north Houston. Out of gas.
A man in a Chevrolet Suburban sitting at a traffic light nearby honked. "No gas. I need a ride out. Please," Baranza yelled.
Come on, the stranger motioned. Baranza and his family shook hands and piled in.
The Suburban then turned onto a northbound I-45 access road. And quickly stopped in traffic.
source: http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/metro/stories/09/23HOUSTON.html
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Sept. 23, 2005, 8:05PM
LETTERS

Rita, Katrina and Houston

Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Some fuel for her thoughts
WE were all ready to evacuate, but we saw the problems with doing that: The traffic was not flowing. There was no place to fuel up. We had nowhere to go.
The thought of being better prepared next time gives me fuel for thought.
The leaders should have had tankers standing by at all escape route service stations. In my opinion, this is the major problem: Getting out on the road and getting stuck in your car with no gas and no place to get gas. We are staying in the area for all of these reasons.
We hope we can communicate with everyone again after the storm. Good luck to all!

VIRGINIA DAVENPORT Pasadena
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He's waiting on Bush's knock

ME? I'm staying. I live in West University Place, a wealthy neighborhood with lots of donors to the Republican Party. I figure that President Bush will personally knock on my door and save me.

JOE ROUSMANIERE Houston
source: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/editorial/outlook/3367241