Link: Instapundit.com - .
We headed Northeast on the Beltway, hit I-10 toward Beaumont. By 10:30 a.m., we had not even gotten 1/2 way there (an hour drive on a regular day), so I decided to take the first open exit and head North. EVERY gas station on I-10 was out yesterday morning by 9:00 a.m., but miraculously, the stations 15 miles off the freeway had gas--must be something about supply and demand. We headed North & East--away from the mass of Houston/Galveston evacuees--for some time, until we hit a Texas Dept. of Public Safety roadblock on a Northbound road. The DPS officer simply said the "road is closed" without explanation, and told us to head BACK to Beaumont and join the parking lot/freeway. I asked him why the road was closed (locals could still use it) and that it made no sense to head back and add to the problem (I was 30 miles North of I-10) at this point, but he said he was just "told" the clear road due north was closed. I explained that he was in essence risking my family's life, since stuck on the road with a 20 foot flood surge, would be suicide. He didn't care and when I said it was idiotic to shut down good roads to force people onto a jammed evacuation routes, he said what was idiotic was to have to talk with people like me.
Yeah, I'm not surprised. Bureaucratic inefficiency at it's worst. It isn't even worth talking to them, sadly, they are just following orders.
I've written before, don't even bother with the official evacuation routes, they'll be jammed to a stop in an hour or less.
A GPS is a great thing but make sure it has all the maps on board because you might not have time to stop and update from a computer. It is better to have a good map or five of your most likely escape routes, all the way. Expect your route to be blocked, whether by an official, washed out bridge or avalanche, just expect to have to go around things.
Oh, he got to his evacuation point just fine.
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