Houston cams - Pic of people trying to get out of town

[cynatnite]

This is just a few minutes old.

http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/cameras/camtext.aspx

[raccoon]

1. Self delete nt

[liberal N proud]

6. That always puzzles me when they have these evacuations

You see pics of the traffic backed up form as far as the eye can see and an empty highway on the other side.
Open the other side, and get people out twice as quickly.

[txindy]

9. The state controls the highways. That's the problem.

We have to rely on Gov. MoFo's 'leadership', so, let's face it - nothing will happen.

[Squatch]

11. Emergency crews still need access to the interior of the city.

[liberal N proud]

15. The didn't use them to get in in NOLA

I realize that is the idea, but if the second killer storm of the century is bearing down on you, first priority is how fast can we get the people out.

[Squatch]

17. And if you clog both sides of the highway when it does hit, what then?

[txindy]

23. There are plenty of other roads for emergency vehicles to use.

They can go through traffic lights, while other cars cannot. If necessary, they could travel up the shoulders of the highways. Contraflow lanes are not a problem, if done correctly.

[0007]

22. All five lanes?

[librechik]

7. damn those local officials!

it was Rick Perry's fault!

[ihaveaquestion]

12. I looked at maybe a dozen cams

and none of them show them using both sides of the highway. What's wrong with these people? - the ones in charge, I mean.

This just shows another major problem with our transportation planning. Expecting most major cities to evacuate it's entire population in private vehicles is ludicrous! All they have to do is run the numbers of how many cars will be clogging the roads at any one time to realize it's just not possible without serious restrictions on who can leave and when and with how many people per vehicle, etc.

[orion9941]

2. God what a nightmare!

[ohio_liberal]

3. That's just unbelievable

My car would die in that mess, I know it.

[ret5hd]

4. i've heard that people are running out of gas...

while sitting in traffic, which is backing things up more, which is causing people to run out of gas while sitting in traffic, which is backing things up more, which is causing people to r...well, you get the picture.

[cynatnite]

13. Yep, here's the story:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050922/ap_on_re_us/rita

GALVESTON, Texas - Hundreds of thousands of people across the Houston metropolitan area struggled to make their way inland in a bumper-to-bumper exodus Thursday as Hurricane Rita closed in on the nation's fourth-largest city with winds howling at a terrifying 165 mph.

Drivers ran out of gas in 14-hour traffic jams or looked in vain for a place to stay as hotels hundreds of miles away filled up.

An estimated 1.8 million residents or more in Texas and Louisiana were under orders to evacuate to avoid a deadly repeat of Katrina.

[rinsd]

25. Very strange....the article seems to state I-45 has been opened..

"To speed the evacuation, Gov. Rick Perry ordered a halt to all southbound traffic into Houston along Interstate 45 and took the unprecedented step of directing the opening all eight lanes to northbound traffic out of the city for 125 miles. I-45 is the primary evacuation route north from Houston and nearby Galveston."

Doesn't look like it from the webcams.

[cynatnite]

31. I checked them all along 1-45...your're right (unbelievable pics!)

[txindy]

32. Considering the completely nonsensical way roads are designed in TX

This doesn't surprise me one bit, unfortunately. **sigh** Gov. MoFo is all talk. Forget all hat and no cattle. He couldn't even get a hat.

[KharmaTrain]

5. Where's The Contra Flow?

I'm seeing lots of 4 and 6 lane roads where the Northbound lanes are empty and the Southbounds are a mess. Aren't these supposed to be flipped by now?

[txindy]

10. Yep. Remember how Perry bragged about his preparation for this?

That went well, didn't it? :eyes: The state controls the highways. So far, not one of the 'brilliant' political appointees has thought of the obvious: contraflow lanes.

[VolcanoJen]

14. That's Governor Goodhair for ya!

This is really pretty unbelievable... what are they thinking?

[KharmaTrain]

21. Imagine 100,000 people on busses...

The goons who use the victims of New Orleans who "didn't get out when they could have"...look at how much more of a mess adding tons of school busses would be to this exodus.

I'm hoping something opens up soon...I know its blasted hout and the pictures of people sitting and cooking on the roadsides is starting to really look grewsome here.

Our best hopes are with you...hope you are and stay safe..high and dry.

Cheers...

:toast:

[txindy]

24. Unairconditioned school buses would be deathtraps in traffic like this

The heat index is already 115+ and we're four hours away from the hottest part of the day. Using school buses would be madness, absolutely.

Thanks for the good wishes. I'm in Central Texas and up in the hills. We won't be flooded, personally, but we will be cut off if heavy rains come. Everything surrounding us will probably be heavily flooded.

[KharmaTrain]

29. Please Keep Me Posted

Sounds like you're in for lots of rain and wind. Reports were for upwards of 15 inches to fall in the Metroplex. We're even hearing we'll get a drenching here in Chicago once this thing passes north.

Please stay safe...

[KittyWampus]

8. wait! how come they're nt doing contra-flow?

[VolcanoJen]

16. Who wants to bet Drudge doesn't show that photo?

I don't see much of a difference between that photo, and flooded schoolbuses, personally.

[Xenotime]

18. Good point.

* can't run this country anymore. His cabinet is clueless.

[Synnical]

19. Live feed from Houston TV -

http://www.khou.com/perl/common/video/wmPlayer.pl?title=beloint_khou&props=live

[rinsd]

28. They are having a press conference dealing with contra-flow (nt)

[TahitiNut]

20. All those semi trailers warm my heart.

:eyes: Live shots on TV seem to show about 60% SUV and about 5% semi (18-wheelers).

[zbdent]

26. Point #1

I wonder how many of those vehicles have a single occupant . . .

[zbdent]

27. Point #2

This contradicts the report I thought I heard saying that all roads were leading out of the area . . . BOTH SIDES.

[rinsd]

30. I'm watching a press conference now...

They are coordinating this now.

33. corpus christi webcam

pier in corpus christi

http://www.corpuscoast.com/bob_hall_pier_cam.htm

[Fleshdancer]

34. and don't forget - it's 97 degrees out there

for the cars that still have gas, many are driving without the AC on to preserve gas.

I'm in Austin and according to the mail man, the traffic on the highways up here are already starting to back up.

I'm sick with fear. Several of my friends from Houston are attempting to leave today. Some are going to attempt the back roads, others are sitting on the highway. :cry:

[Lindsay]

35. My best wishes for all those people stuck in traffic

trying to do the right thing.

But honestly, anybody who's ever sat in rush-hour traffic day after day after day had to have had a notion that mass evacuation by car was gonna look like this. (That's not a dig at the motorists but at the "planners.")

[Sweet Freedom]

36. It's been like this since yesterday

You should have seen the maze I had to follow to get home to Sugar Land from Houston yesterday. It took me over two hours to get home and I left before rush hour ever began. (Stopped at 6 gas stations along the way -- all of them empty.)

My husband tried to go to work today but once he saw the gridlock on 59S, he knew he'd never make it home, so he turned around and came back.

One problem is that all the freeways are under construction (always are). 59S doesn't even have feeder roads that cross the Brazos river, so there are only so many routes to take.

I expect it will just get worse as the day goes on.