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State's strategy to evacuate Texans released
Jun.6.2006 |
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The state's hurricane evacuation and sheltering plan shows significant improvements since Hurricane Rita last fall exposed flaws, but nearly a week into hurricane season, a great deal of uncertainty remains, several officials from across Texas said.
The state's 157-page plan was posted online late Friday, the day after the Atlantic hurricane season began. To view/download the plan, Click Here.
Some local emergency management officials said Monday that they did not know the plan was ready.
But several who had seen it said the plan sufficiently addresses some of the most crucial concerns from last year, including traffic management, fuel availability along evacuation routes and the evacuation of people who can't move themselves.
"Clearly, the governor and his staff . . . have listened to the community, assessed our lessons learned (from Hurricanes Rita and Katrina), and the outcome is the best plan that we could have," said Rudy Garza, an assistant city manager for Austin.
The plan includes several new components, such as "comfort stations" that would provide food, water and medical assistance along evacuation routes and a point-to-point system that would pair coastal cities with inland cities for special needs evacuations. Galveston's special needs evacuees would be brought to Austin.
But some local officials said Monday that they were worried the state is not ready for another hurricane like Rita, which sent some 2.8 million Texans into a nightmarish traffic jam before the storm slammed into Sabine Pass in Southeast Texas.
For example, in East Texas, where many evacuees arrived at shelters only to find them full, there are not enough volunteers trained to staff shelters, said Walter Diggles, executive director of the Deep East Texas Council of Governments.
However, Rachael Novier, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry, said the state plan is designed to lay out how the state would support local officials and does not include detailed local planning.
Diggles also said evacuation routes are uncertain because sections of highways such as U.S. 96, U.S. 59 and U.S. 69 are under construction.
But Frank Michel, a spokesman for Houston Mayor Bill White, said that in one of the country's fastest-growing areas, there will always be some road construction.
Sheriff Leroy Moody of San Patricio County, north of Corpus Christi, worries that despite last month's hurricane drill, which entailed state and local officials preparing for a simulated evacuation, the plan hasn't been sufficiently tested.
"If it works the way they say it'll work, it's fine. But in all incidents of disaster, you have to fly by the seat of your pants," he said.
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