This is like reading the Times-Picayune blog . . . except this time it's 48 hrs BEFORE the hurricane hits.
Not enough buses . . . people stranded on Interstate 10 . . . trash on the highways . . . stalled cars . . . disgusting bathrooms . . . no water . . . 100-degree heat . . . people and animals wilting . . . a rush on gun stores; fear of looting . . .
Here are some excerpts ( 'below the fold' ) from the MUST-READ Houston Chronicle's blog, which is continually updated :
< update # 4>
As the cars go by overhead, the carless wait under the Pierce Elevated, 5:03 pm
As the slow-moving flow of I-45 evacuees droned on overhead, those not lucky enough to have a car loitered under the Pierce Elevated Thursday afternoon, wondering what to do.
There was a Texas Southern University student trying to get home to Washington, D.C., a retiree tourist hoping to catch a bus to the airport, a couple frustrated they couldn't find a bus bound anywhere and several homeless people who had nowhere to go.
"I just want to get home," said Steven Champion, the 18-year-old TSU freshman. Champion, who had a small carry-on bag, said he had waited more than an hour for the Number 88 bus that he hoped would take him to Hobby Airport and on to his family in Washington.
"The college evacuated to College Station, but I didn't want to go there, because the hurricane will go there, too," he said.
Normally, the area of southwest downtown at the Pierce Elevated is about the best place for a pedestrian in this notoriously car-driven city. There are MetroRail stops, a Metro bus transfer center and a Greyhound station within a couple blocks of each other.
The MetroRail trains appeared to be running on time Thursday, but Metro bus service was spotty after announcing it would suspend its service at 2 p.m. The Greyhound station had shut its doors because it had no tickets available, leaving an angry and hot group of travelers to gather outside.
"They shouldn't leave us out here in the sun like this," said Rubi Gonzalez, who carried her 1-year-old son. "Now I know how the people in New Orleans felt."
The imperfect evacuation in New Orleans raised concerns about the divisions between those who can afford a car and those who cannot.
Javier Garcia, 49, and his wife, Alicia, waited outside Greyhound as well, but then they gave up and went to sit under the shade of the nearby freeway.
"Maybe we'll get a bus tomorrow," said Javier, who works as a security guard downtown. The two live in a flood-prone house along Broadway in southeast Houston and decided they needed to catch a bus anywhere inland.
< snip >
A homeless man, who identified himself only as Tom, said a police officer stopped by early Tuesday to warn him about rising waters from the bayous.
"He said he wouldn't mind if I went into a vacant building, but not a parking garage," Tom said.
Just up the block, John Collins, 70, waited at the same bus stop as Champion. He also wanted to get to a flight out of Hobby. . . .
< update # 3 > Jeremy Rogalski of KHOU, audio report, my very rough partial transcription:
( this is an audio file from the KHOU blog )
Word of the hour here just before 4:00 is – gas is gold.
Fuel supply dire – desperate as the minutes and hours go by.
Center of Liberty Co we saw incredible long lines.
15 mile backup – bumper to bumper.
Most of those folks had started in storm surge areas the night before.
On the road 14, even 16 hours.
Most of those motorists had very little gas, a quarter tank, an eighth of a tank.
Police told me that gas station owner told him they were going to go dry within the hour.
Desperation grows by the hour.
More and more cars – perhaps thousands – will be running dry. They will be stuck.
Word now is: Will help arrive and from where ?
< update # 2 > KHOU has a blog too. Here's a recent entry - how many people will be stranded at the airport ? and for how long ?
Some airlines still flying, others stopped service, 4:20 pm
Southwest Airlines has been continuing their flights in and out of Hobby Airport, even bringing residents back to Houston who wanted to return to secure their home.
AirTran is also flying.
American Airlines has cancelled most of its flights and all of its flights to Dallas.
< update > Folks, there's a shitstorm a-brewin':
Stay on the street or escape on a bus?, 3:07 pm
Danny Boyd stood at the corner of Texas and Main eating canned hotdogs and wondering how he was going to escape Rita's wrath.
Boyd, a homeless Vietnam veteran, said he wanted to catch a bus that will take him to a temporary shelter. He just wasn't sure where to go.
"I can't stay out here," he said. "It's going to be like World War III."
Boyd said police officers told him to walk to over the downtown Houston Community College Campus and get on an evacuation bus. He seemed skeptical of the information.
But after mulling it over for a few minutes he decided that probably was his safest bet.
"I guess I'll end up walking over there," he said.
< update >
Danger added to misery, 2:18 pm
740 KTRH is reporting that the newly opened contraflow lanes are providing no relief yet on I-45 where traffic is miserable up to 1960.
The contraflow lanes are open on I-10 east between Sealy and Columbus.
Also, on 59 north, drivers are opening their own contraflow lanes between Splendora and Shepherd, a dangerous situation as drivers are still headed south on 59.
Help getting gas to stalled drivers, 1:28 pm, Sep 22 2005
Highways leading inland out of Houston, a metropolitan area of 4 million people, were clogged up to 100 miles north of the city.
Service stations reported running out of gasoline, and police officers carried gas to motorists who ran out.
Texas authorities also asked the Pentagon for help in getting gasoline to drivers stuck in traffic.
-- Associated Press
Problems easing traffic congestion, 1:17 pm
Both County Judge Robert Eckels and Houston Mayor Bill White expressed empathy for the people trapped on clogged freeways. They said they were doing what they could, and working with the state, to open lanes and get them accessible gasoline.
"We understand that it's much more than an inconvenience," he said. "But that doesn't mean you can delay evacuating until it's too late."
At the same news conference, TxDOT spokeswoman Janelle Gbur announced that southbound lanes of Interstate 45 opened about noon to evacuating motorists.
Similar plans to open opposing lanes of State Highway 290 and parts of Interstate 10 were still underway. There was no timetable to open 290, and it could be "several hours" before Interstate 10 west of the Brazos River is ready.
The plan is complicated by the fact that state officials haven't had the manpower to physically block dozens of inbound exits over hundreds of miles. The agency also is concerned that blocking 290 through Brenham, for example, might cause unintended traffic problems.
Mayor White also urged people not to go to airports, which are crowded. He said more than 100 Transportation Security Administration agents didn't come to work this morning, exacerbating the delays.
Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas said there were no plans to evacuate the several thousands of inmates in the county jail. He said an effort was underway today to move almost 1,000 inmates from Galveston and Brazoria counties.
-- Matt Stiles
Long road to nowhere, 12:24 pm
Traffic is stopped on I-10 west near Antoine and many overheated vehicles have pulled into the shoulder.
People who left Galveston 12 hours ago are only now getting into Houston, and many planned to go all the way to San Antonio.
Kim Phan, 31, of Houston, is heading for Phoenix to stay with family. She said she entered the freeway five hours ago and has driven less than 20 miles.
"It was moving for awhile but now we're just sitting here," she said.
Children played in the grassy area near the freeway as their parents tried to get their stalled cars moving again. Dogs riding in the back of pickups looked like they were wilting in the sun.
"How much longer to San Antonio?" one man asks. He is disheartened to hear that at the rate he's going it's going to take at least 10 more hours.
All is quiet inside the loop, 11:33 am
The Chronicle's Dwight Silverman is on Westheimer making his way out of Houston to San Antonio and says traffic is smooth inside the loop, but slows considerably outside Beltway 8.
He said the biggest traffic problems are being caused by people looking for gas.
"The places that have any have long lines backing up into traffic and making other drivers mad. Some people appear to be waiting in line at empty gas stations hoping a gas truck will arrive." . . .
Passing time at a standstill, 11:19 am
The scene at 290 this morning was a mixed bag of those who could take the long rides and standstill traffic in stride, and those who could not.
On the 43rd Street overpass a man in a gray muscle shirt casually walked his German shepherd along the shoulder, stopping to talk to the strangers in stopped cars and trucks.
But beneath him, the 85-year-old father of Angie Cano rode off in an ambulance, his emphysema getting the better of him after a five-hour ride from Pasadena.
Cano, a kindergarten teacher, was distressed to leave her father behind, but was consoled by her family that he would be in good hands at a Memorial hospital as they headed to see family in Austin.
The Shell station at 43rd and 290 was crowded with frustrated travelers pulled over everywhere. The asphalt was collecting trash. Many had traveled with the air conditioning off so they could save gas and just needed to take a breather.
There was still a little gas at this Shell station this morning. There was a line of a dozen or so people inside stocking up on junk food. There was a longer line in the heating sun outside at the ladies room, where the smart folks brought their own toilet paper.
Jose Pejerrey, a visitor from Peru, was one of many to walk down from the freeway to shop the Shell station's little store. These folks knew they could climb back up and find their car in just about the same place.
Tom Laughlin of Baytown did the same thing, apparently to stock up on Snickers for everyone in his car.
Most people said they started out from the south Houston area between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. and had been on the road roughly five to six hours. To pass the time, they listened to music, were bored or sang. . . .
Preparing for looters, 10:04 am
Apparently water and canned peaches aren't the only hurricane supplies people are scrambling to get their hands on.
A local gun store manger said swarms of people are coming in to purchase weapons.
"They are trying to prepare and trying to protect their homes," said Billy Carter, vice president of Carter's Country gun stores.
"People who have never bought guns before are buying them now."
Carter said the spike in sales started on Monday. The vast majority of folks coming to buy guns are people who plan to wait out the storm and are worried about looters, he said.
'So many people, so few buses', 7:34 pm, Sep 21 2005
Hortense Davis is waiting at the Houston Greyhound station for a bus that may not be coming.
The 73-year-old woman called the Red Cross today to find out what she should do about the storm. She said she was told to go to the bus station and tell them she had no money and needs to get out of the city.
"But when I got here, they said they couldn't help me," she said. "So now I'm just sitting here."
Davis is trying to evacuate to Lufkin because she is scared hurricane Rita is going to causing major flooding in Houston.
"I'm stuck here," she said. "I don't have anywhere else to go."
Hundreds of people packed the downtown Greyhound station tonight hoping to get a ticket to safety.
Carolyn Rivera, 62, said she bought a bus ticket to Dallas today, but when she arrived at the station she discovered all the buses were filled. So she called her daughter and the two women plan to drive to Arkansas tonight.
"There are so many people and so few buses," she said. . . .
MORE:
http://blogs.chron.com/rita