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If Hurricane is coming towards Houston...


emirate25

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Will you stay or leave Htown?

I would definitely stay in Houston like i did when Rita was suppose to hit.

I left during Rita but will probably not leave again unless they fix the evacuation routes. I can handle 6-7 hours to Dallas, but 13 hours in a car with two screaming cats

Edited by Trophy Property
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Will you stay or leave Htown?

I would definitely stay in Houston like i did when Rita was suppose to hit.

I'd leave...but take the back roads again in order to get to Austin within four hours. Why anyone stuck to the major roads is beyond me.

But I'd much rather not be here after shards of glass litter the roads along with various other large debris...in a situation without stoplights or other infrastructure...where police and other emergency services are too tied up with more important things than responding to my calls for assistance of any kind. Not my cup of tea.

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I'd leave...but take the back roads again in order to get to Austin within four hours. Why anyone stuck to the major roads is beyond me.

But I'd much rather not be here after shards of glass litter the roads along with various other large debris...in a situation without stoplights or other infrastructure...where police and other emergency services are too tied up with more important things than responding to my calls for assistance of any kind. Not my cup of tea.

When did you leave and what back roads did you take? I know a few people who made it to Austin in 6 hours taking some back roads, but they still got caught up trying to get out of Houston.

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When did you leave and what back roads did you take? I know a few people who made it to Austin in 6 hours taking some back roads, but they still got caught up trying to get out of Houston.

It helped that I left straight from work at I-10/Kirkwood. I spent a total of one overpass on I-10 and then took the Eldridge exit. I went north to Bear Creek Regional Park and drove through the park in order to circumvent the traffic at Clay and Eldridge and along Patterson Road. Taking Clay westward, it was free sailing after getting through Highway 6. Beyond that, you'll just have to use a map like I did.

A cautionary statement: if you look like you know where you're going, you may develop an entourage. I had a couple cars behind me that followed every turn I made, including the wrong ones. I accidentally sent them off on a course for Stephen F. Austin State Park by making a turn that was too quick, though.

Also, watch out for the deer.

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Will you stay or leave Htown?

I would definitely stay in Houston like i did when Rita was suppose to hit.

I'd go to Waltrip and camp in the steel and brick fortified auditorium because I wouldn't want to miss any of your threads, emirates!

B)

[seriously, that's what I really would do!]

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I will stick around as I think a lot of people will too. Everyone jetted because of Katrina. , after the jams and nothing really hit I think people will stay. If I do go I won't go to Dallas, I'll pump my FEMA dollars into the San Antonio or Austin economy where I'm welcomed :P

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I'll use my experience with Allison and Alicia.

If it's a cat 3, i'll stay or just move to the west of downtown, maybe at a client's home (I live near pasadena at the moment).

If it's a cat4-5, I'll definately move, but it's going to depends where the storm lands.

If it lands near galveston, I MIGHT stay put or move to the west or south west.

If it lands further south, like say, Palacios, I'm running for dear life. Maybe LA!

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It helped that I left straight from work at I-10/Kirkwood. I spent a total of one overpass on I-10 and then took the Eldridge exit. I went north to Bear Creek Regional Park and drove through the park in order to circumvent the traffic at Clay and Eldridge and along Patterson Road. Taking Clay westward, it was free sailing after getting through Highway 6. Beyond that, you'll just have to use a map like I did.

A cautionary statement: if you look like you know where you're going, you may develop an entourage. I had a couple cars behind me that followed every turn I made, including the wrong ones. I accidentally sent them off on a course for Stephen F. Austin State Park by making a turn that was too quick, though.

Also, watch out for the deer.

The same happened with us. My dad had a convey of cars following him. Back when Rita came, we lived in Green Trails. We took Fry Road and tried to get on IH-10, but the traffic was horrendous. So, we left the entrance ramp and stayed on the feeder to Mason. We made a right at Mason, up to Caly Road. Right on Katy Hockely, then a left on 529. By that time, I was sleeping.

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Like Ricco, evacuation plans depend on the storm.

I didn't want to leave last year, but the wife overruled my decision. I think most of that had to do with the post-Katrina media hype.

Of course, when Rita was a Category 5, stronger than Katrina was, and heading straight towards Freeport, I felt like my wife had made the right decision to get us on the road!

That being said, I think we're far enough inland that we don't have to worry. Storm surge is definitely not a problem for us, but winds could be. I lived in Sagemont when Alicia hit, and while the hurricane winds didn't affect our house, many houses lost their roofs to both the hurricane and the tornadoes. My current house didn't suffer any damage in Alicia...but my wife said there was plenty of tree damage (uprooted trees, downed limbs) in the neighborhood.

If I'm facing the prospects of broken windows and roof damage, I'd like to be here to fix it immediately, rather than come back days later and discover the damage. I think that's as bad as it'll get here at our house...

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Well, just do what I convinced a few of my clients to do.

Buy plywood. Pretcut and number them.

If you have to leave suddenly, you can throw them on in an hour or so and head for the hills! :)

Once the windows are protected any other damage will be WAAAAY out of your control, so you might as well leave.

On the morning of Rita, I woke up extra early. When they mentioned it was jogging a bit north, I went right back to sleep.

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It helped that I left straight from work at I-10/Kirkwood.

if i lived even close to there i wouldn't have left.

back roads work when your out that far, but there were NO roads you could take from Clear Lake or anywhere south of there that weren't packed during Rita.

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Well, When I still lived intown (when Rita came) I think our House was the only one in the entire neighborhood that had any damage whatsoever. The Windows on the 3rd floor were cracked. (Oh my gosh!!! Run for your lives!!!) And Downtown had some broken windows. But thats a bit scary, considering we all barely got the tip of the storm. Imagine if it had hit. (Well, I don't want too)

But now that I live up Nawf, I learned that several neighbors had boarded up with plywood. I think they said the power went out for 5 seconds. And only a splash of water hit the roof. But then again, thats anywhere from +64 miles from the gulf. (Downtown New Orleans 30-88 miles from the gulf).

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Hey, I went to Waltrip High School.

Me too... Now there are 4 of us on this board that I know of that went there... When did you graduate... I'm '77

I will most likely stay put. My plan is to get the plywood and be ready to board up if necessary. I'll have water stored up and plenty of can goods, and some cash. I need to get this ready now...but mostly likely it will be mid July before I get serious. If one comes our way before then, you might find me @ Waltrip with Nmainguy.

But seriously, I cannot imagine leaving my home during a storm. I want to be here if to fix things as soon as possible.

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I'd head out for some place safe - like New Orleans!

BTW, duct tape doesn't prevent glass from breaking, but it is supposed to keep broken windows from shattering and having shards fly all around the house.

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Guest danax
I'd leave...but take the back roads again in order to get to Austin within four hours. Why anyone stuck to the major roads is beyond me.

Me too. I had planned to leave to Austin that Friday but realized that wasn't a good idea at that point so I headed to a friend's in Spring taking the back roads. The freeways were packed but I made it from the East End in about 45 minutes.

I've still got my plywood ready to go too, cut and numbered.

And I agree with those who fear that, if we do get a Cat 4 in the next few years, the backlash from the failed evacuations will cause a lot to stay in their homes and some will get hurt.

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It will depend on the specifics, but we plan to stay.

Most of our neighbors in the Heights stayed for Rita. We all checked in with each other before retiring to our houses to wait and see. They're good people to have around. All my family is scattered at various non-storm-surge locations in the city, too. So between shelters, neighbors, and family, we'll find a way.

It was scary, though.

I am not one who runs from the possibility of not having electricity. Safety is the concern, obviously. We need to make sure we have the necessary supplies and such.

Interested in reading other replies.

NOLA is 38 miles inland...but it is a bowl. They were fine (for the most part) until those levies broke...it wasn't the wind that got them.

Edited by lilyheights
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All my family is scattered at various non-storm-surge locations in the city, too. So between shelters, neighbors, and family, we'll find a way.

It was scary, though.

I am not one who runs from the possibility of not having electricity. Safety is the concern, obviously. We need to make sure we have the necessary supplies and such.

You did this so some portion of your gene pool shall survive? Smart. :lol:

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People stuck to the major roads because, if you remember, there was no gas! If you ran out of gas in the middle of tim-buck-too and a cat5 came barreling in...you wouldn't be a happy camper. That was my main concern, I figured that if it did come in and people were stranded, someone was bound to come pick everyone up and take them to a safe house.

Yes, I'd leave again if they told me to. Yes, people freaked because of Katrina, but this was a cat5 that looked like it might come straight for us. I am now worried that if it happens again, not enough people will realize the seriousness of it and people will get hurt or worse.

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