Current Conditions In Houston

[Trans_27 Pilot Chase 59]

Hurricane Rita is nearing, and houston is getting to higher ground as we speak. Being a houston resident, i can honestly say that i have never seen the traffic the way it is now. All major roadways such as I-45, I-10, Hwy 59, and SH290 is bumper to bumper. Many people have been on the road since last night and have only made 10 miles in progress since then. People on the roads are running out of gas, and as part of the state's plan for evacuation, a gas company has now beemn contracted to provide gas to those stranded on the roadways. Living closest to Huffmeister and 290, i currently have one of the toughest places to get out of. The 290 and Huffmeister, Telge, and Barker Cypress area's are the most jammed. As another action to the State's evacuation plan and solution to the traffic, all inbound lanes to Houston on I10, I45, Hwy59, and SH290 are being closed and converted to outbound lanes. All inbound traffic and being re-routed and all outbound traffic is using the full thouroughfare. Thought id let you guys know the latest on the houston situation for the ones that are interested.For more info,http://www.khou.comhttp://www.abc13.comTake care guys, ill keep you all posted on the latest.:-wave

[Wilson 2]

Yep, it is a mess no matter which way you try to go.We live at Hwy6 and Memorial area on the west side. We have decided to stay here and ride it out. We were going to go up to Dallas, but found out that the hotel had given our "guaranteed" room away.I still have to go up to Dallas after the storm passes through, because I bought a generator there. There were none left in Houston two days ago.It will be interesting to see how long it takes to get the isp going again.Hold onto your hats!Wilson

[Trans_27 Pilot Chase 59]

this is going to be one ####, of a wild, windy weekend.I hope this thing will weaken and shift more northward.Good like with riding it out.Also, i heard yesterday on ABC13 that the drivetime from 610 to the woodlands, was 5 hours. And from houston to dallas, was 19 hour drive. To many people are pulling off the roads and going back home. Its impossible to get out. Best time to leave is about 1 in the morning.. But even then, its still difficult.

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

To you guys sticking it out, good luck!!! We'll be looking for you safe return on the flip side of the event. Be safe and careful!

[dva238 9]

Continental and Southwest will cease ops at IAH and HOU tomorrow at noon.

[Trans_27 Pilot Chase 59]

flights today were being delayed at hobby as much as 2 hours, while at IAH, all major airlines were delaying their flights as much as 4 hours.

[Trans_27 Pilot Chase 59]

Thanks for your support tom, we all appreciate it. The storm infact has been shifting quite a bit. Last night, it was aimed directly towards matagorda bay, then it shifted directly to galveston, and now today its been pushed upwards even more towards beaumont. The storm has been shifted over 150 miles since last night.Your support means alot, i hope i will be fully back up with in a few weeks ready to tear up the virtual skies once again.If i can, ill take some pictures of the storm from my house, and maybe share a few if it isnt minded.Take care you guys, and ill keep you all posted as long as i can. :-wave

[RFields5421 1]

I went down yesterday (Wednesday) to help my son secure his home near Texas City (Bacliff). I had to take down 10 sheets of plywood - none to be had down there.We left about midnight and got to Dallas about 1630.We had no trouble getting up IH-45 to Houston - because we made sure to get on the HOV - but we got stuck on the HOV near exit 56B and it took over four hours to go four miles.We got off at Beltway 8 and over to 246. Took another 3-4 hours to get to the Montgomery county line - the last 5 miles of that trip was the bad part.Once we got away from the official evacuation routes and main roads we made good time - mostly up Hwy 39.But I was tempted to turn around more than once.Thankfully we turned off the car engines in traffic. Most of the time in temperatures above 90 with two children under age 7 in the cars.My brother had a similar experience on the eastern side evacuation routes.What happens if they give an evacuation order and 2 million people comply?I've got no answers - only exhaustion from 36 hours without sleep - 25 of it behind the wheel.Very happy we realized that we needed more than 2 gallons of water per person to survive the evacuation.

[Wilson 2]

Well, we had no problems with Rita here on the west side of Houston.We stayed here at the house and ended up with only 1/4 inch of rain plus moderate winds. Other than a lot of leaves in the pool, we sustained no damage at all.We didn't even lose power, even for a minute.I told the guys at Northern Tools in Dallas to sell my generator to someone in east Texas who really needed it.I can't believe how lucky we were, but feel sorry for all of the victims that the storm generated. Time to see what we can do now for the Rita victims.Wilson

[Trans_27 Pilot Chase 59]

yeah, we did come out lucky. It never even rained once here at my house, which suprised me. It was pretty windy though. 40 or 50mph from the north. Lost power at 3.30am saturday morning untill about 2.30 or 3pm saturday. When i woke up, my family packed up and went to our ranch north of bryan/cs, between hearne and franklin on hwy79. Some family up there said we had power, so that was just a no-brainer to go up there. Then with my luck, we did loose power for a while, but eventually came on after about 10 calls to Navasota Valley Electric. But now im home, in a fairly warm house, but cooling down quickly here in cypress. The traffic wasnt bad at all on the way home. Just a few cases of road rage which doesnt happen often. But anyways, im home now, and everything is getting back to normal.