I remember this very well. It was a disaster on the freeways. People ran out of gas, food, water,etc.. It wasn't until TxDot decided to open up southbound traffic to go north. Then people started to get somewhere. However, it took them forever to do this. Literally, TxDot had to first close off all southbound traffic from galveston to Dallas, and that in itself was a huge undertaking. What normally took 2-2.5 hours to Dallas from Houston, it took most 2 days during the evacuation.
The amount of cars parked on side of the highway that overheated or broke down because of this evacuation was incredible. Some were there Months later.
Rita made Landfall one month after Katrina. This is why so many fled Southeast Texas. Skip to 2008 when Ike did make Landfall in Houston/Galveston, an evacuation plan implemented because of Rita worked.
I remember evacuating for this hurricane worst experience of my life ever we were stuck in traffic for days we had limited amounts of water food no gas restroom stalls were backed up people were using the restroom anywhere people were sleeping on the streets on the highways people left their cars and walked their way to safety those days were terrible very ugly experience I've ever had I remember being on the same road the bus caught on fire emergency crew could barely get to it on time because of the traffic by the time we reach Dallas the hurricane already hit and it was so strong the wind was knockin trees down in Dallas😰😰😱😱
I evacuated from nederland texas to Laredo texas. Very close to Mexico and just 7 hours away. When we passes through Dallas and Houston...It was the most traffic I have ever seen in my life.
Im so glad my parents didn’t evacuate I remember my mom saying we should and my dad replied “ we can stay her, or we can die on the road” and that’s no exaggeration, 100 people died trying to leave
I remember me and my fam evacuating from Houston we were stuck in traffic for what felt an eternity.. Houston was running out of water, gas and we had limited food horrible on the road yeah it was a experience
The problem with evacuation in the Houston area. The EOC in their wisdom set up zones to evacuate starting with zone 1 which is close to the Gulf of Mexico. Zone 2 and higher were further inland. That would work fine if you were in Disney World. The real world was "Every Body Run for your Lives" as the news media said. People 80 miles inland hit the roads and service stations sucking all the gas from the service stations. The people leaving from Galveston and Freeport area found all roads packed, no gas and no where to go! The only way to get out of town was if you had your own airplane or had a truck with railroad wheels (high rollers) on it which you could get on a rail road track and leave. Many people now have Generac Whole House Generators that will keep their lights on for weeks. Natural gas is hurricane proof.
This was the most unnecessary evacuation ever. Rita hit like 80 miles East of Houston. I left but not for the hurricane. My uncle was getting baptized in Dallas and we were forced to take backcountry roads and it took 5 hours instead of 3 and a half. Would have been far worse on 45 though.
Boy, I remember it well. I did not run or panic. I just bored up the house, put anything that may fly around in a safe place. I had my sister-in-law call about 1:30PM the day before Allison were to hit. She said they were on the road about 8 hours and now they were in Dallas, Texas looking for a place to stay the night! They live in Humble, Tx, about 50 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. I ask her why in the world are you leaving. She said a friend of hers called and said there is going to be a flood and she was not going to die! That got my sister-in-law panic stricken. Heck, Humble is 100' above sea level ! We had plenty of gas for our cars and generator so we headed out to see if we could get anything to eat. I took pictures of empty Wal-Mart's, malls. It looked like a scene from the "End of the World"! We found a Italian restaurant. The manager told us we don't have much food, but we only charge what you order. There were about 5 cars and 3 police cars there. It was an experience.
So glad my parents decided to ride it out. I remember my old neighbor explaining "Houston never evacuates. Galveston evacuates to Houston". My little brother hadn't been in a hurricane before and was scared it'd be like Katrina, so my dad explained how NoLa is below sea level, while Houston is actually pretty high above sea level, and that our area didn't get storm surge, just flash floods. Some trees fell down and we lost power but otherwise nothing bad happened.
Intelligent and forthright thinking. Ive walked through a frosty hurricane day in Houston myself and it much differs from the catastrophe of a Corpus Christi hurricane safety wise and collateral wise, mostly on the flash flood side over the worse side. Even if you ride it out in a more flood prone area, that’s just a small lesson you learn about residing in a coastal city and there are measures to be taken post flood.
Yeah buddy we got on 59 from calvacade @ 8:30 tryna hit Louisiana the other way. We sat on 59 from 8:30am- 5:15pm we turned around & came back n2 town cuz we wasn't getting anywhere. H-town was sooo empty.. any1 remember tryna get gas r food ??. Everything was close & or boarded up.. the storm hit dat night & it wuz a bunch of nothin but wind & sum hard rain.. no real damage done.. that night of da storm i sat up laughin soo hard cuz we had all got worked up 4 nothin
yeah anticipated the hurricane to drop right over Houston...and after Katrina who was to stay...I was there i lived in Houston..it was total chaos...yeah nothing happened...but right after Rita you'd think people would take a chance...cat 5...thankfully that storm blew right past Houston..
I'm really excited about moving to Houston after graduation, but being from Indiana makes me wonder what I'd do if a major hurricane were to strike the area again. I mean, in a way I'd be excited to experience a hurricane, but this video leads me to believe that it would also be a nightmare.
There's nothing to worry about in terms of life threatening danger if you live in Houston and out of a flood zone. You probably just want to have a week worth of water and food but I've never had a hurricane where I needed that. Usually the worst that can happen is your home can be damaged, so be sure to check for dead trees that could fall over.
This ain’t related to the video but it is related with a bad storm in 2008 (Ike) hitting Houston. So in 2008, my dad and my mom lived in the part where Ike was headed. So, my mom had went with her mother. I think that she had gone to Mexico and well.. My dad he didint want to lose his ID to go to USA, so he evacuated with some of his uncles and friends. They went to San Antonio TX. I’m glad their house survived! That’s all I had to say.
... my then gf wanted me to take 5 animals in my Toyota Tacoma crew cab to Dallas to her brother's house while she worked (law enforcement). I was like um, how about a big fat NO lol That afternoon i remember being on 610W, approaching the Galleria area and that whole section was EMPTY save for a few cars. We stayed in Oak Forest, had no damage. I watched everything unfold on tv. I could only imagine how it would have been being caught out there with the thousands of others 😱
My town was said to hit the hardest port arthur texas and George w bush came and visited some parts if texas and he came to port arthur. I remember my whole family had to stay over at my grandparents because they were. The only people with power because they had a generator
Everyone was scared because we witnessed what happened to New Orleans. People were shocked and since Houston is also kinda below sea level we were scared. Now fast foward to Harvey its terrible, at least our Astros won the World Series
These people could have take backroads there are many backroads in houston. Im sure some smart people didnt trap themselves in a highway, sat at red lights near gas stations instead and swerved out
More people died on the roads in suffocating heat running out of gas… poor people and pets , most.. never had a damn chance… so stupid of our mayor… BS! It didn’t even touch Houston. Pathetic.
Rita made Landfall one month after Katrina. This is why so many fled Southeast Texas. Skip to 2008 when Ike did make Landfall in Houston/Galveston, an evacuation plan implemented because of Rita worked.
Its so interesting to watch videos like this from back in the early 2000's
Yes
Its normally about a 3 hour trip from Houston to San Antonio. I left Houston at approximately 5 PM and arrived in San Antonio at approximately 1230 AM
It took 36 hours for me. Spent the night at a gas station.
I remember this very well. It was a disaster on the freeways. People ran out of gas, food, water,etc.. It wasn't until TxDot decided to open up southbound traffic to go north. Then people started to get somewhere. However, it took them forever to do this. Literally, TxDot had to first close off all southbound traffic from galveston to Dallas, and that in itself was a huge undertaking. What normally took 2-2.5 hours to Dallas from Houston, it took most 2 days during the evacuation.
The amount of cars parked on side of the highway that overheated or broke down because of this evacuation was incredible. Some were there Months later.
Rita made Landfall one month after Katrina. This is why so many fled Southeast Texas.
Skip to 2008 when Ike did make Landfall in Houston/Galveston, an evacuation plan implemented because of Rita worked.
I remember evacuating for this hurricane worst experience of my life ever we were stuck in traffic for days we had limited amounts of water food no gas restroom stalls were backed up people were using the restroom anywhere people were sleeping on the streets on the highways people left their cars and walked their way to safety those days were terrible very ugly experience I've ever had I remember being on the same road the bus caught on fire emergency crew could barely get to it on time because of the traffic by the time we reach Dallas the hurricane already hit and it was so strong the wind was knockin trees down in Dallas😰😰😱😱
I remember this happening but I was like 4 or 5 but I do remember leaving around 3-4 am and we didn’t make it to Austin until 10:30/11pm that day
Rita was very scary. I remember the sounds of trees snapping and the overwhelming scent of pine in my home.
And suddenly in the middle of all that evacuation, Rita turned away from Houston and aimed at Louisiana/Texas border
And that's what killed me about the whole thing. We just knuckled down and and prayed for the best. And then she went the other direction. Just Crazy
I evacuated from nederland texas to Laredo texas. Very close to Mexico and just 7 hours away. When we passes through Dallas and Houston...It was the most traffic I have ever seen in my life.
I like to say thanks to the one who makes these videos of hurricanes.
Im so glad my parents didn’t evacuate I remember my mom saying we should and my dad replied “ we can stay her, or we can die on the road” and that’s no exaggeration, 100 people died trying to leave
I remember me and my fam evacuating from Houston we were stuck in traffic for what felt an eternity.. Houston was running out of water, gas and we had limited food horrible on the road yeah it was a experience
Omg I remember trying to rescue my cousin from Houston and was stuck in all this traffic for hours and hours!
The problem with evacuation in the Houston area.
The EOC in their wisdom set up zones to evacuate starting with zone 1 which is close to the Gulf of Mexico.
Zone 2 and higher were further inland.
That would work fine if you were in Disney World. The real world was "Every Body Run for your Lives" as the news media said.
People 80 miles inland hit the roads and service stations sucking all the gas from the service stations. The people leaving from Galveston and Freeport area found all roads packed, no gas and no where to go!
The only way to get out of town was if you had your own airplane or had a truck with railroad wheels (high rollers) on it which you could get on a rail road track and leave.
Many people now have Generac Whole House Generators that will keep their lights on for weeks. Natural gas is hurricane proof.
This was the most unnecessary evacuation ever. Rita hit like 80 miles East of Houston. I left but not for the hurricane. My uncle was getting baptized in Dallas and we were forced to take backcountry roads and it took 5 hours instead of 3 and a half. Would have been far worse on 45 though.
The best time to evacuate is after the storm. No traffic at all.
U don't evacuate after storm
Stupid
Jackie Baker sarcasm duh
Boy, I remember it well. I did not run or panic. I just bored up the house, put anything that may fly around in a safe place.
I had my sister-in-law call about 1:30PM the day before Allison were to hit. She said they were on the road about 8 hours and now they were in Dallas, Texas looking for a place to stay the night!
They live in Humble, Tx, about 50 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. I ask her why in the world are you leaving. She said a friend of hers called and said there is going to be a flood and she was not going to die! That got my sister-in-law panic stricken.
Heck, Humble is 100' above sea level !
We had plenty of gas for our cars and generator so we headed out to see if we could get anything to eat. I took pictures of empty Wal-Mart's, malls. It looked like a scene from
the "End of the World"!
We found a Italian restaurant. The manager told us we don't have much food, but we only charge what you order.
There were about 5 cars and 3 police cars there. It was an experience.
Port arthur was a ghost town after this hurricane
So glad my parents decided to ride it out. I remember my old neighbor explaining "Houston never evacuates. Galveston evacuates to Houston". My little brother hadn't been in a hurricane before and was scared it'd be like Katrina, so my dad explained how NoLa is below sea level, while Houston is actually pretty high above sea level, and that our area didn't get storm surge, just flash floods. Some trees fell down and we lost power but otherwise nothing bad happened.
Intelligent and forthright thinking. Ive walked through a frosty hurricane day in Houston myself and it much differs from the catastrophe of a Corpus Christi hurricane safety wise and collateral wise, mostly on the flash flood side over the worse side. Even if you ride it out in a more flood prone area, that’s just a small lesson you learn about residing in a coastal city and there are measures to be taken post flood.
The evacuation was absolutely crazy. That's why my parents and I staid in Pearland!
You simply cannot move millions of people out of the path of a Hurricane, cant be done, and this video proves it...
This is why more and more people from now on will not evacuate.
14 hours from Baytown to Livingston , normally 1.5 hours, I will never leave again
Lmao same, we got stuck on 45 North for like 12 hours.
We did.36 hours from Pasadena to Tyler Texas! Worse time ever
From Edwards theater on i10 to katy mills mall 25hrs...
i think i slept through the storm ,i was in the four season hotel ,i heard my neighbors being stuck in traffic
Yeah buddy we got on 59 from calvacade @ 8:30 tryna hit Louisiana the other way. We sat on 59 from 8:30am- 5:15pm we turned around & came back n2 town cuz we wasn't getting anywhere. H-town was sooo empty.. any1 remember tryna get gas r food ??. Everything was close & or boarded up.. the storm hit dat night & it wuz a bunch of nothin but wind & sum hard rain.. no real damage done.. that night of da storm i sat up laughin soo hard cuz we had all got worked up 4 nothin
So true
We should've evacuated for Ike
kendrick795 - Damn bro. I bet that evacuation pissed a lotta people off.
I was living 1 mile north of you. On 59. It was so nice with everyone gone.
Man Rita was nothing people got so worked up and the majority of people that died were old people sitting in traffic
wdym nothing?? Did you see what happened in lake Charles??
yeah anticipated the hurricane to drop right over Houston...and after Katrina who was to stay...I was there i lived in Houston..it was total chaos...yeah nothing happened...but right after Rita you'd think people would take a chance...cat 5...thankfully that storm blew right past Houston..
watching the video and waiting for hurricane Laura port Arthur Texas 2020
thanks for the video and so sad that I know where every place is that is shown in this video
I'm really excited about moving to Houston after graduation, but being from Indiana makes me wonder what I'd do if a major hurricane were to strike the area again. I mean, in a way I'd be excited to experience a hurricane, but this video leads me to believe that it would also be a nightmare.
There's nothing to worry about in terms of life threatening danger if you live in Houston and out of a flood zone. You probably just want to have a week worth of water and food but I've never had a hurricane where I needed that. Usually the worst that can happen is your home can be damaged, so be sure to check for dead trees that could fall over.
We get Hurricanes only every 20-25 years in Houston.
Tornado1994 thats a lie
This ain’t related to the video but it is related with a bad storm in 2008 (Ike) hitting Houston. So in 2008, my dad and my mom lived in the part where Ike was headed. So, my mom had went with her mother. I think that she had gone to Mexico and well.. My dad he didint want to lose his ID to go to USA, so he evacuated with some of his uncles and friends. They went to San Antonio TX. I’m glad their house survived! That’s all I had to say.
I stayed in my apartment
Yes and millions came through jasper tx and we. Couldn't get out of our driveway cause of them. Thanks a lot. I wouldn't do that again ever.
... my then gf wanted me to take 5 animals in my Toyota Tacoma crew cab to Dallas to her brother's house while she worked (law enforcement). I was like um, how about a big fat NO lol
That afternoon i remember being on 610W, approaching the Galleria area and that whole section was EMPTY save for a few cars.
We stayed in Oak Forest, had no damage. I watched everything unfold on tv. I could only imagine how it would have been being caught out there with the thousands of others 😱
My town was said to hit the hardest port arthur texas and George w bush came and visited some parts if texas and he came to port arthur. I remember my whole family had to stay over at my grandparents because they were. The only people with power because they had a generator
THIS WAS FUCKING HORRIBLE. I NEARLY RAN OUT OF GAS AND THEN THE WAIT LINE AT THE AIRPORT WAS JUST.. TO LONG.
Everyone was scared because we witnessed what happened to New Orleans. People were shocked and since Houston is also kinda below sea level we were scared. Now fast foward to Harvey its terrible, at least our Astros won the World Series
Nice.
I remember that day it was HOT ASF in the truck I had 4 bottles of water by me lol
My hometown was destroyed and I was only 1 years old I was happy to still be here. And I had to stay at my Tea's house
I bet that evacuation pissed a lotta people off.
I was born during this well not actually my mom was on the week the I was gonna be born and we were lucky enough to drive to Minnesota
never evacuate through houston!!!!!
That is just utter craziness
Rita is now cat 4 wind speed 149 mph
Apparently fox news thinks tx hasn't had a hurricane make landfall since 2008
I had to stay in my house in houston I remember pushing the button of the tv saying turn on!! But the pwr was out
fookin 'ell m8
2:03 tornado?
I stad home was not going in all that traffic no way
The only thing I rember is a tree following in my moms car and random people in my house sleeping in my room I slept in my parents room
I remember this happened to us. My whole family left except me lol
If only we could get this Many people to leave Houston now , in 2021. Permanently!
people from Houston had no business evacuating nothing happened
that's bad
Yet another example of how car dependency is dangerous.
Good too see that all the planning paid off lol!!! Yes it's sarcasm!
That's daily LA traffic.
Well you know being how we are not God and all we couldn't predict where it would hit with 100% accuracy!
These people could have take backroads there are many backroads in houston. Im sure some smart people didnt trap themselves in a highway, sat at red lights near gas stations instead and swerved out
It was a nightmare.
i live in port artuthur ._.
Bendito huracán por el conoci al amor de mi vida.
I remember a little girl die by Columbus tx on traffic from the heat
Dog need safety
More people died on the roads in suffocating heat running out of gas… poor people and pets , most.. never had a damn chance… so stupid of our mayor… BS! It didn’t even touch Houston. Pathetic.
LOL!
1)
UP.
Rita made Landfall one month after Katrina. This is why so many fled Southeast Texas.
Skip to 2008 when Ike did make Landfall in Houston/Galveston, an evacuation plan implemented because of Rita worked.