An Evacuation Story ========> - Democratic Underground

Bouncy Ball

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Fri Sep-23-05 05:47 PM
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An Evacuation Story ========>

Edited on Fri Sep-23-05 06:01 PM by Bouncy Ball

This is not my story, but a friends I just got via email. I received permission to post it here.

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There just are no words to accurately describe the absolute horror of the evacuation. The worst experience in my entire life....I just can't think of anything worse that I have ever endured. I can't fucking stop crying. I am just sobbing now as I write this.

I want EVERYONE in the U.S. to know exactly what is happening. I will not proofread before sending this....I am too tired.

First, we left at 9:30 am yesterday and arrrived in Dallas at 7am this morning. Our luck in taking back roads here and there due to rebellious nature of my dh and bil saved us at least 5 hours of driving time. We had a caravan of 4 cars.....myself with the 3 kids and cat, my husband, my brother in law, sister in law, mother in law and father in law. I actually considered leaving the day before with the kids by myself while my husband boarded up the house. He would not let me go by myself given the situation, and we actually fought about it. Now, I can't imagine having done this alone. I would not be here yet, literally.

We took all precautions. I topped off my gas tank the morning before, made sure my oil was fine, air in tires, food/drinks for kids, Dimetapp for my daughter in emergency (actually used it twice....lifesaver), cell phones charged, etc. My car is an Odyssey which is very fuel efficient. I thought I would be fine. Leaving League City was the most eerie experience. It was a ghost town. Highway 45 was clear for the first 15 miles or so, and we thought "this is great...no problems". Boy, were we in for a surprise.

The first 2 hours was basically just bumper to bumper, the kids were restless.....typical road trip stuff. There were a few gas stations that had gas. Husband adn brother in law waited in line for 30 min., filled up there as their tanks were halfway filled. I was still between 3/4 tank and full so decided not to spend time waiting in line. My car is very fuel efficient, I have driven to Dallas many times only using 1/2 tank for the entire distance.

It took us about 3 hours to get just north of downtown, and things were looking worse and worse. At this point, I had a good attitude. It was still early, we had plenty of time. We were going to be safe, and I was prepared for a long drive. NOTHING could have prepared me or any other human being for what this evacuation really was to become.

We kept hearing on the radio that they were opening up the contra lanes, so northbound traffic could move over to the southbound lanes. People were calling in saying that it was not helping, and it wasn't for a very long time. They waited TOO LONG to open the lanes up and they started the contra lanes WAY TOO FAR NORTH. WTF???? We drove for HOURS watching & looking at 5 empty southbound lanes to the left of us. WTF???

We spent about 7-8 hours on the road before hitting the contra lanes which would have normally been about 45 min. from us. People were literally parked on the highway and feeder roads. People were out walking, kids were playing by the side of the road, families were walking around talking to each other in their caravans. It was almost 100 degrees outside, but most people had to turn off their air conditioning to reserve gas as they realized their fuel reserves were getting lower. Women were holding babies wearing only diapers and fanning each other. Cars were starting to overheat, and motorists were under carhoods trying to fix the problem.

Once we did move ever so slightly, tempers were rising on the roads as everyone was getting more and more hot, frustrated, and scared. The possiblity of not making it out of Houston in time was terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. I stayed as closely to husband and brother in law as possible in our cars so we wouldn't get separated. This angered so many motorists who tried to push theirselves in front of me. I was cursed at a couple times but the fear of getting separated was huge and eventually happened many inopportune times. It was starting to seem like a fight for our lives at the 8, 9, 10 hour marks. Why the hell were we not out of Houston yet?? Once we got on the contra lanes (again, too far north), we passed by at least 10 miles worth of cars at a standstill. If we were on that side of the freeway, we would have easily had another 4 hours in the car. After 10 miles, traffic was again at a standstill. My sister in law got out of her and brother in law's car and went for a walk (on the highway) until we caught up to her.

During all of this, we saw thousands, yes THOUSANDS of stranded motorists on the side of the road. There were no more gas stations with gas about 6 hours into this or so. These people had overheated cars with smoke coming out, no gas. There was NO ONE coming to help them. Sometimes a friendly person would bring over gas and water. These were civilians. No police officers, no national guard, no gov't official WHATSOEVER were helping. NOT ONE for the entire trip. There were NO FUEL TRUCKS at 10:00 PM when we left the city limits. They were not around!!! On the radio, we kept hearing them saying that the fuel trucks were on their way, be patient, help is coming. Bullshit. I didn't see one single one.

We made it to the north side of Houston in about 12 hours. We headed towards Huntsville, and I had noticed the gauge on my gas tank getting lower. I was at 1/4 of a tank in Huntsville. I lost sight of husband and brother in law. It was pitch black as there are no street lights. I was in the contra lanes with no exit, and there was a ditch between myself and the northbound side of the highway. It was too dark to see if it was shallow enough to cross so I didn't. I was running out of gas, it was 10:00pm, the cell phones were jammed. I spent an hour redialing DH over and over while the gauge got close to empty. I had 3 children and my old cat (who had not eaten or drank and was too quiet....I really thought she had died), and I was completely starting to panic. REALLY panic. After an hour, there was enough light on the other side of the highway to allow me to see the ditch depth. I crossed over, and just then dh got through to me. He had exited right where I was looking for gas knowing I was almost empty. There were no gas stations near the highway with gas. None. What were we going to do??? We couldn't stay there. The hotels were booked, there was no safe place for us as the shelter there was full to capacity.

My brother in law drove around the city until he came upon a hidden gas station. About 50 cars were quietly and discreetly lined up. Everyone had their cars turned off until it was time to inch up a little. Everyone lined up was almost out of gas and still had a very long way to go. We lined up at 10:30. My brother in law was way ahead of us as he had lined up immediately upon arrival. It took a long time for him to be able to communicate with us to tell us where to go due to the cell phones not working. During the time we were lined up, there was a fistfight because someone had cut in line. My sister in law saw this and called the police who came to break it off and then left. At 12:15 or so, we were still in line and learned that the station was going to close at 1am.

There was no way we would make it by then. People were trying to cut in line and there were verbal fights. My sister in law begged the gas station owner (Huntsville Mart, I believe...but, I'm not sure. I will find out the exact name) to stay open until all the gas was gone. He refused. My sister in law called the police telling them that there was going to be a riot on their hands if they didn't arrive immediately. She explained this was an EMERGENCY situation and people were fleeing for their lives. The police officer was able to convince the owner to stay open until the gas was gone. He claimed to have 1000 gallons which is enough for 20 cars with a $25 limit.

My car was too far back in line, so my brother in law managed to switch my car with his. This was a daunting task as his car was stuck between another car and a sidewalk and also because people thought we were cutting in line. As my sister in law moved their car out of the way, and my car was moved in, people were yelling at us for "cutting". We had to explain that we were swapping them out, and they watched us very carefully.

We were the 2nd to last car to get gas. There were about 30 cars after the last car who had been waiting in line for at least 3-4 hours. They were not getting gas. There was NO GAS LEFT ANYWHERE in Huntsville. They were not leaving. I can't tell you how depressing it was to leave there looking at those people's faces. Omg. I can't forget that.

We had lost my father in law and mother in law many, many hours before and kept in contact the best we could until after Huntsville. THen, we lost touch. The rest of the trip was surreal. The kids were quiet even when awake. About an hour south of Dallas (the contra lanes were open for us all the way to Dallas which did help), I could not keep my eyes open. It had been 20-21 hours of driving without a break or bite to eat. We were surviving on crackers, some grapes and PB&J sandwiches (long gone by now).

I told my husband to pull into the next exit which was just a little feeder road. The 3 cars pulled in, and we all took a 5-10 min. nap. That was enough to help me for the next hour. Less than a minute after reentering the highway, I saw smoke and a fire up ahead. I called my husband on the cell phone to ask what he could see as he was further ahead. It was a bus on fire. We talked as we passed it that the bus was going to explode. There were people being carried off the bus, and we said to each other that they need to be moved away from the bus. I thought about stopping but was very scared about having the 3 kids in the car and predicting an explosion. If either of us had stopped, we could have been a casualty. We heard the sirens coming that way and hoped they would arrive quickly. Knowing now what happened haunts me. I feel incredibly guilty. I think it will haunt me forever.

When we arrived to the hotel to check in my inlaws, we learned that my fahter in law and mother in law were stuck in Centerville (about halfway between Dallas and Houston) without gas. We were frantic. Omg, it was horrific to imagine them outside by their cars in the heat with no gas. Horrific. They ended up able to get to a gas station and wait in line for gas. They have now arrived safely in Dallas and look like they have aged 100 years according to dh. This was not an experience for a 35 y/o let alone a 70 y/o. I am still so worried about them even knowing the are safely here.

I can't stop thinking about the people stuck in Houston. They followed orders, they did everything they could to help their families. There was no amount of preparation that could have helped them more. This was more about luck, and as lucky as we are to have arrived in Dallas.....I feel profoundly different. This has changed me, and I have a sadness in my heart that will probably never go away.

Thank you all for your caring and thoughts.