My bother, his wife, and their three children (and 1 dog and 1 cat) left their home in League City, Texas (just a few miles North of Galveston on I-45) around 7:00 p.m. this evening.

I just got off the phone with him, and they just merged from Beltway 8 onto I-10 westbound. For those of you not from Houston, that’s a 47-mile drive in 6 hours. He said traffic is bumper-to-bumper. Of course, the inbound lanes (6 lanes wide at this part of Houston) are completely empty.

That’s what happens though, when 4 million people all decide to evacuate at the same time. Thank goodness they’re all getting out—however slowly—days before the hurricane actually strikes.

Meanwhile, my sister Rita and her family left their home in Humble, TX (north Houston) around 8:30. She just called, and they will be here in about 10 minutes. But they took HW 105 North to Navasotta, then HW 6 to HW 290. She said the traffic was heavy through Giddings, but has flowed steadily most of the way.

Everyone be careful and patient.

***
UPDATE: I woke up this morning to get ready for work, and my brother and his family had still not arrived to your house in Austin. When I called him at 8:00 a.m. this morning (13 hours after he left his home in League City), he was 2 miles form turning north onto HW 71.

From 1:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. this morning, my brother has driven 61 miles west on I-10. Well, except for the 2 hours they spent in line at a gas station in Sealy.

Posted by Robbie Cooper on Thursday, September 22nd, 2005 | Trackback |