Houston Republican judge urged people to "hunker down", NOT evacuate

[Bluebear]

He advised people in Houston to "hunker down" (while claiming it as a "Texas expression", because nobody else in the other 49 states uses that term...)

So when your FOX-watching acquaintances tell you "people had a chance to leave"...remind them that they were advisewd not to.

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...Authorities hoping to avoid the traffic gridlock of three years ago, when Hurricane Rita threatened the area, urged people who don't live in eight specific zip codes in the low-lying areas and near Galveston Bay to remain at home.

"We are still saying: Please shelter in place, or to use the Texas expression, hunker down," Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, the county's chief administrator, said. "For the vast majority of people who live in our area, stay where you are. The winds will blow and they'll howl and we'll get a lot of rain but if you lose power and need to leave, you can do that later."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jG1m4XT341oCKXPMIZlKffdhP9vwD934LECG0

[Catherine Vincent]

1. I was one of those that hunkered down.

I was up that whole night because it was too noisy. I don't think I want to go through that again but I am thankful that we survived. :)

[Bluebear]

2. I am glad you did too!

:hug:

Must have been petrifying.

[Catherine Vincent]

5. Thanks for the hug, lov. :)

[malaise]

4. Night hurricanes are the worst but if your place is safe

and you're not living in a beach front home, then staying home (noise and all) is still the best option.
Better one bad night than a week of bad nights and days.

[Catherine Vincent]

6. Yep.

And I know you would know. You've probably been through tons of hurricanes. Hang in there. :)

[malaise]

9. We've never had to leave home even when we had no light and

water but neither hubby nor I could survive a shelter for 24 hours. Thankfully we have lots of family if push came to shove.

[io-solip]

3. And as it turns out, almost nobody died. The evacuation from Rita killed 200 people.

Seems like he made a good call.

[Bluebear]

8. He made a horrible call. People are in distress with no water, ice or food.

[JBoris]

7. To be fair, here in FL they say...

"run from water, hide from wind"
Meaning people (like me) who are a few miles from shore, don't evacuate. Only people on the coast, or near lake Okeechobee get evac orders.

[rucky]

10. Why is a judge giving emergency instructions in the first place?

what an ass.

[Bluebear]

11. Good question. Sounds like on of them thar "activist judges"!!!1

[crickets]

12. Saw something about this at DKos today - apparently it's not actually a 'judge' in the usual sense.

http://dailykos.com/story/2008/9/14/22830/8407/27/598996
Developing: FEMA Hiding The Ball - Update x 1
by freepress4all


County Judge is not a judicial office. They're
the county's CEO. Heck, they don't even have to be lawyers.
by chrismorgan on Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 10:29:41 PM PDT


appreciate the explanation
I watched the KHOU feed on satellite television. Wondered why
the hell a "judge" would be commenting on post-disaster staging and planning.
by CocoaLove on Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 11:46:01 PM PDT


That's how it used to be in MO. It was the first
elected office held by Harry Truman.
by duckhunter on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 08:10:40 AM PDT


I had the same reaction you did until I read that. HTH.

[EFerrari]

14. Because he has jurisdiction and because it was only for a portion of the city. n/t

[Igel]

13. It's worth responding 24 hours late.

The authorities were clear in the plan that's in place after Rita: There are evacuation zones. They called for some zones to be under a mandatory evacuation order. Those people were to leave--Galveston, places along Galveston Bay, Bolivar Peninsula and places along the coast stretching to the Sabine Pass.

There was no ambiguity. There was no call for those people to "hunker down" (which I've heard from Texans and Idahoans in equal measure).

Areas outside the storm surge area and out of flood paths were told to "hunker down", to stay put and keep their heads low. Why? They were at little risk. Most of the Rita traffic problems were caused by people at no or little risk of flooding or injury leaving; those are west and north of the mandatory evacuation zones, and the roads from the evacuation zones lead west and north. Those who didn't need to leave clogged the roads and made it very, very difficult for those who had to leave to do so.

The judge wasn't speaking to everybody in Houston; there are areas of Houston that were ordered to evacuate. But he was speaking to most of Houston. My family hunkered down. We're fine.

[malaise]

15. When two million people don't have power

and stores are closed and many of these people were told they did not need to evacuate, to whom do they turn five days after a hurricane. In many areas, people have no ice and stores are closed. This is a total mess.