Rachel
Obviously you speak without knowledge. So let me correct you:
1) my wife, PhD and the smartest person I've ever met, has been glued to the very admirable local TV news & the National Hurricane Center (www.nhc.noaa.gov), apprising me every 5 minutes since Wed afternoon re: the risk that west houston faced. all models have always pointed us to be subject to the much-weaker west side of the storm. we've never been a direct target.
2) we are > 60mi inland
3) we are not located in a flood zone. in fact, our area hasn't flooded in 20yrs+.
4) all the windows (the greatest risk in the path we are in is high winds @75-100mph) are boarded. couple that with the fact that our house is 1 story, highly aerodynamic (architects will know what i mean), and complete with a 1 month old roof, means we're personally in great shape.
5) houston, as a city, went nuts. people as far north as the woodlands (!) were evacuating, contributing to the problem(!!!) of fuel shortages & the infamous traffic congestion (3hr trips lasting 15 hrs) from yesterday. these people who unnecessarily evacuated (as a number of them did unnecessarily!), absorbed precious resources that those in real danger needed...open roads, gasoline, hotel rooms, diapers, etc etc etc.
(one person posted to a local TV news blog that she was so proud she was able to evacuate from conroe with her family, loaded into FOUR SUVs, complete with everything needed to leave for a month...such as her fine china, her computer, etc etc. my wife ripper her one on the board, along with similar sentiments from other reasonable people).
My guess is if you'd have been in our place, with our knowledge, you'd have done the same & stayed. Difference is the # of batteries we'd have bought (person 2 in front at the hardware store bought 7 pair of batteries, i bought 2 as i thought about exactly how much i would need for a few days, concerned with what my fellow storm-rider might need).
rhyno
