I was disturbed to learn a New Scotland Yard official recently visited Houston to “get tips on how to evacuate a major city.” Houston and Harris County officials have little influence over the evacuation beyond suggesting/issueing an evacuation and creating the evacuation routes. The state has much more influence over an evacuation. Instead of Houston, the New Scotland Yard official should visit Austin and learn how not to evacuate a major city.
Texas botched the evacuation of Houston and surrounding areas ahead of Hurricane Rita. The state waited far too long to activate contraflow — using the inbound lanes for additional outbound traffic. What is more, gasoline supplies were nowhere to be found for far too long, leading to disabled cars and loss of air conditioning on a hot, hot day. Facing a thirty-hour drive to Austin, which would normally be a mere three hours, many people decided to take their chances at their homes in and around Houston. I can only imagine how long a drive to Lubbock, one of the cities suggested once Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas hotels were completely full, would take. Google suggests the trip from Houston to Lubbock takes about nine hours. Even though I left Houston about a day before most in the area, my trip to Austin took about seven hours. Many who evacuated or tried to do so swore they would never try to evacuate again.
Perhaps the state will be much better prepared for the next hurricane. Texas, however, has a poor track record of learning from its mistakes, especially in the short term. I hope New Scotland Yard keeps this in mind while incorporating lessons learned from Houston into London evacuation plans.
