Too many cars, too little gas... a Rita suggestion:

[Creeker]

Whats with these people in Galve/Houston stuck on the Interstates?

At least our simple backwards state reverses the Southbound lanes as well to get everybody out. Those that need to come South use the secondary roads. Our SCHP has a drill at least once a year so that they all know their response should the order be given to Get the Heck out o' Dodge. After Hugo, special ramps were constructed and cut-overs were made on the cloverleafs to make traffic be able to OUT of town on the whole Interstate. During non-emergency times, these cutovers and ramps are blocked by barriers and reflective plastic markers that can easily be moved or pulled out of their setting by a single trooper.

We have about 100 miles of Interstate that can be reversed. Why don't I see that in Galve/Houston?

[Caspertoo]

I think they did reverse the southbound lanes just recently.

[lt93lover]

It seems that they could have done the lane change thing earlier as most the businesses, schools, etc were all closed, some on Wednesday. It's 1 am here and all the traffic cams still show tons of cars sitting, moving very slowly.
Oh, and add to it, all the wonderful construction that is in and around Houston.
The news just did a report about how busloads of volunteers went up and down the lines of cars to hand out water. They brought a lot of it back-people said they wanted gasoline instead.
There are supposed to be moving 'rest stops' provided-tanker trucks who are going to get out there and deliver fuel to the motorists, but haven't seen any on the tv yet.
Rita is about 350 miles from Galveston and they're trying to clear the roads before she hits.
It is a huge mess at the moment.

[Da Po-po]

Wait... don't you know???

President Bush has again turned on his top secret "Weather Making Machine" and created Hurricane Rita to finish the job that Katrina left undone! He has systematically turned off all gas supplies to the area in attempt to strand thousands of unsuspecting motorists on the highways unprotected and his fiendish design is going just as planned! That bus full of evacuees that caught fire? It was a focused attack on poor people trying to flee! Just wait! Seawalls will fail, flood waters will rise, and Republicans will rule the world!!! (Yes, that was all sarcasm.)

Just wait... the left wing will have a field day with this storm. They are going to criticize the government's disaster response. Instead of praising improvement due to lessons learned, it's going to be a bunch of crap about how Bush didn't care about the poor black people in New Orleans, but did a great job in his home state of Texas where all the rich white folks live. Just wait... you guys will be calling me for the winning lottery numbers.

[Ken K]

Wait... don't you know???

President Bush has again turned on his top secret "Weather Making Machine" and created Hurricane Rita to finish the job that Katrina left undone! He has systematically turned off all gas supplies to the area in attempt to strand thousands of unsuspecting motorists on the highways unprotected and his fiendish design is going just as planned! That bus full of evacuees that caught fire? It was a focused attack on poor people trying to flee! Just wait! Seawalls will fail, flood waters will rise, and Republicans will rule the world!!! (Yes, that was all sarcasm.)

Just wait... the left wing will have a field day with this storm. They are going to criticize the government's disaster response. Instead of praising improvement due to lessons learned, it's going to be a bunch of crap about how Bush didn't care about the poor black people in New Orleans, but did a great job in his home state of Texas where all the rich white folks live. Just wait... you guys will be calling me for the winning lottery numbers.

LOL...I was going to start a thread on new things you can think of to blame this on the gov't...beat me to it.

I just heard their evac plan was modeled on one car per family and it looks like most are taking all their cars. One guy I saw had his veh pulling the boat, and the wife was going in the SUV. If this is true, they grossly underestimated the number of vehs they would have to deal with.

[1BAD-SS]

Wait... don't you know???

President Bush has again turned on his top secret "Weather Making Machine" and created Hurricane Rita to finish the job that Katrina left undone! He has systematically turned off all gas supplies to the area in attempt to strand thousands of unsuspecting motorists on the highways unprotected and his fiendish design is going just as planned! That bus full of evacuees that caught fire? It was a focused attack on poor people trying to flee! Just wait! Seawalls will fail, flood waters will rise, and Republicans will rule the world!!! (Yes, that was all sarcasm.)

Just wait... the left wing will have a field day with this storm. They are going to criticize the government's disaster response. Instead of praising improvement due to lessons learned, it's going to be a bunch of crap about how Bush didn't care about the poor black people in New Orleans, but did a great job in his home state of Texas where all the rich white folks live. Just wait... you guys will be calling me for the winning lottery numbers.

All of what you said will probably come true. However, I would bet money that THERE WILL NOT BE WIDESPREAD LOOTING IN TEXAS. I have already heard press releases from some of our Texas LEO brothers and sisters that they will make a "special" effort to stop looting. I know that alot of the advance planning out of Texas is due to the Katrina experience, but alot of it has to do with actual good leadership within the Texas government agencies. The media will probably say that they are acting to Cowboy like while saving lives and property. I'm not from Texas, but Gov. Blanko should probably take notes during the next couple of days.

[That Guy]

What we should asking/suggest is people to car pool. Less traffic means less gas, less panic, and less traffic.
Oh wait I can't leave my purity car behind.....

TGY

[gotthblues]

the report i saw, said that after several head on collisions, the opened both lanes, apparently people got impaitiant, and since there was little southbound traffic, several people said #^&$& it, cut the median and took off, course then the bang happened. but thats what promted the lane opening.

[Creeker]

Wait... don't you know???

President Bush has again turned on his top secret "Weather Making Machine" and created Hurricane Rita to finish the job that Katrina left undone! He has systematically turned off all gas supplies to the area in attempt to strand thousands of unsuspecting motorists on the highways unprotected and his fiendish design is going just as planned! That bus full of evacuees that caught fire? It was a focused attack on poor people trying to flee! Just wait! Seawalls will fail, flood waters will rise, and Republicans will rule the world!!! (Yes, that was all sarcasm.)...

I think someone is a Glen Beck listener...

[savage4presiden]

the report i saw, said that after several head on collisions, the opened both lanes, apparently people got impaitiant, and since there was little southbound traffic, several people said #^&$& it, cut the median and took off, course then the bang happened. but thats what promted the lane opening.

Hahaha. I would have been the first one to do that. I would leave everyone in the dust with an evil grin on my face and laugh my butt off while looking in the rear view mirror.

[Operator13]

I think they did reverse the southbound lanes just recently.

Reversing flow is hard to do for a few miles in an emergency. To do it for 100 miles is a serious undertaking.

___________________

Dante

[lt93lover]

They're talking about attempting to run I-10 eastbound only from San Antonio to Houston after this storm. Also telling people not to rush back, especially if they're low on gas, since there still probably won't be any more gas available for a while. We'll see if they listen of not...