"Ann" wrote in message
It's not. *You* watch too much news. We have several offices in
Houston and the surrounding area, I've talked with some of my
coworkers down there. People on the highways are gridlocked. People
who went on the secondary roads got where they wanted to go. Lots of
them. One of my friends got her mother out of a nursing home and
moved her inland. Really. My statement was not ignorant. I just
don't get all of my information from hysterical newscasters.

Well, apparently you did get ALL your information from hysterical
newscasters regarding New Orleans, which successfully evacuated 80% of
residents in less than 24 hours - something that exceeded EVERY projection,
the most optimistic of which said that only 60% could be evacuated in that
period of time.
"Reality #1: A very high percentage of the population of New Orleans and
surrounding low lying areas were successfully evacuated before the hurricane
hit. An article in 2002 in the New Orleans Times-Picayune explored the
hurricane-induced flooding scenario and estimated that 200,000 residents of
the city would be stranded by such an event. A Houston Chronicle article
from 2001 estimated that 250,000 residents would be stranded. That is over
40% of the population of the city, which stood at 484,000 in 2000. A recent
poll of New Orleans residents revealed that an even higher percentage, 60%,
would remain in the city even if ordered to evacuate with a major storm on
the way. The Mayor New Orleans, Ray Nagin, estimated that at least 80% of
his city's residents were out before the hurricane hit Monday. In
retrospect, this must be considered a major positive achievement. How did
it happen?"

But THAT story doesn't support your theory, which is that the mayor, the
governor, and the people of Louisiana are total idiots and to blame for
everything bad that happened there. Maybe, just maybe, they are no better
and no worse than people elsewhere, including Texas. (And, incidentally,
there are no "secondary" roads out of New Orleans, so they had to make do
with essentially 4 or 5 evacuation routes).
--
Ann, gardening in Zone 6a
South of Boston, Massachusetts
e-mail address is not checked
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