HOUSTON – Hoping to avoid the evacuation debacle that stranded hundreds of thousands of motorists in a supersize traffic jam of overheated tempers and out-of-gas vehicles, local and state officials implored residents Saturday not to rush home in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita, which struck a glancing blow at this Texas metropolis.
Gov. Rick Perry, the mayors of Houston and Galveston, and the top elected officials of Harris County were all on message. Enunciating each word slowly, Houston Mayor Bill White addressed a midday news conference: “Do not come back until word is given by local authorities.”
The plain-spoken mayor of the city-island of Galveston, Lyda Ann Thomas, said: “Citizens will be turned away.”
Citing the problems that occurred in the largest evacuation ever conducted in Texas as Rita approached, officials announced a staggered return schedule. The plan is designed to repopulate the area of its 2.5 million evacuees in three stages through Tuesday. Nonetheless, thousands of cars were streaming toward Houston along major interstates by midafternoon Saturday.
Two other reasons for keeping highways free of gridlock, officials said, was the scarcity of gasoline in the area, and to give federal and military vehicles carrying disaster-relief personnel and supplies a clear route to Beaumont and the other east Texas points that bore the brunt of Rita’s 120-mph winds.
“It’s critically important that we keep roads clear today,” said Steve McCraw, state director of homeland security.
Traffic backups, he said, had the potential to tie up law enforcement officers needed in stricken areas farther east.
“It’s a public safety threat,” he said. “We don’t need to divert other public resources right now to handling traffic.”
With the refueling of empty gas stations just beginning, Perry appealed to fuel terminal operators to remain open over the weekend so stations along major roadways could get deliveries.
“We do not have enough fuel along the return routes and in Houston to accommodate the return of everyone who evacuated,” said Perry at a news conference in Austin.
“If Texans will be patient and follow (the staggered return) plan, they will find their return trip to be easier and more efficient.”
Prepared for the worst, the nation’s fourth-largest city and its surrounding communities fared well during the hurricane. “This community has pulled out okay,” White said. Relatively light wind damage was reported, along with scattered power outages.
Despite official pleas for an orderly return, hundreds of residents took to the highways. By early afternoon, a six-mile line of cars was reported heading south from Dallas to Houston on Interstate 45. Some who arrived in Houston found few gas stations open and hours-long lines.
Associated Press
Evacuees stream back into Houston on Saturday after Hurricane Rita largely spared the city.
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