September 23, 2005
I Rode the Rita Evac Down I-59 and Survived
We arrived in Nacogdoches safe and sound. We spent 16 hours making what is usually a 3 hour drive and I consider us the lucky ones. I heard some people spent 16 hours just trying to exit the Houston city limits. Next time I think I will just stay home and drown. I was one of those poor souls that spent some time sentenced to the I-59 creeping parking lot. Imagine a 100 mile long parking lot moving along at 3 miles an hour and you get a small idea of what happened.
We were lucky; I filled up with gas just as I left Houston and was able to make it to my destination on a single tank without having to get a refill. Others were not so lucky. We must have passed at least 200 cars on the way that were out of gas, broken down or wrecked. While not quite as bad, someone of the radio described it fairly well. Imagine the superdome in Louisiana but spread over 100 miles of highway. Half the gas stations in route were out of gas and the rest had lines of 10-20 cars snaking away from each pump. Stop to use the bathroom and the lines for the women’s restroom were 5-10 deep (You know us men, we don't need no stinking restroom).
I have to say I was surprised at the gridlock but I managed to avoid most of it by taking some back roads. Others were not so creative and suffered for it. What really irritated me though were the people trying to make an extra lane out of the shoulder and cutting in front of those more patient. There was a constant stream of these retards which I am sure was wearing on everyone’s nerves. Then it got worse. No longer satisfied with a shoulder lane some decided to start a DITCH lane next to the shoulder lane. That’s right, they pulled into the ditch and started passing those trying to be good civic examples. I really hope they one day they get what they deserve for this behavior. My guess is they are the kind that would snatch up a baby and use it as a shield from a sniper.
Another interesting thing I noted was the litter. The parking lots of those stores remaining open were converted into dump sites by those passing through.
That said I have to give some credit to my daughters friends. They are letting us stay with them at their apartment and all they know about us is that our daughter is a hottie. What can I say, they are college boys.
Posted by Sid at September 23, 2005 12:31 AM | Disasters
