At every hurricane preparedness meeting I ever attended, the county judge and the mayor said, “Evacuate.”
I said it couldn’t be done. Galveston County residents can’t evacuate because 2 million people just 30 some miles up Interstate 45 will block the way.
Then the Texas Department of Public Safety came up with a three-pronged route plus a time-sensitive evacuation plan that looked plausible.
I said it could possibly be done. But, I wouldn’t evacuate because a guesstimated 1,500 or more elderly and special needs people would not be able to evacuate.
If so many couldn’t, who would stay to care for those left behind, especially when they said there would be no shelters on a mandatory-evacuated island?
Along comes Category 5 Hurricane Katrina. Vividly, everyone saw the devastation in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. TV showed the flooding of New Orleans from ruptured levees. The pictures of the plight of those left behind at the Superdome and the convention center shouted out the word “evacuate” louder than it had ever been said before.
At the county workshop on hurricanes Sept. 19, when I was overheard by County Judge Jim Yarbrough saying aloud that I would not evacuate, he pointed out: “Ivan, you have always shown good sense. Please show it again,” or something to that effect.
The next morning, with another hurricane — Rita — threatening, I volunteered with the Citizens Response Team organized by Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas at the emergency office.
My task was to collate and evaluate the responses from contacts with people needing evacuation transportation.
In fact, I found myself on the list, having been called by a volunteer at 9 p.m. the night before to see if I needed help.
After handling some 800 contact forms, I learned that most of the elderly and special-needs people on Galveston Island wanted to evacuate by taking advantage of the availability of transportation provided by the city.
In deference to the judge and the mayor, I evacuated at noon on the Thursday before Hurricane Rita struck.
It was the right thing to do.
Everyone is to be commended for a job remarkably well done: the city and county elected officials, their emergency operations staff and, especially, all other paid personnel and volunteers.
The ensuing traffic problems encountered beyond the limits of Galveston County were beyond the scope of local governments. Hopefully, they will be corrected in the future.
Rita’s altered direction brought its destruction to our neighbors to the east instead of into Galveston County. Still, evacuation was the right thing to do with the weather information available.
Next time, I will evacuate again. It is the right and wise thing to do.
Mayor Thomas, please deputize your Citizens Response Team as your Aging & Disabled Team that would respond to the aging and disabled needs on a regular daily basis with emphasis on their individual personal concerns by promoting Aging Texas Well, Caretakers and Hearts Across Houston, among other programs.
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Ivan Arceneaux is a Galveston County senior citizen activist. He can be reached at ivancat(at)sbcglobal.net.
