I am getting asked a lot why we didn’t consider evacuating and running from Hurricane Ike instead of riding it out at home. It’s a fair question but one that has no easy nor correct answer. The fact of the matter is that the coastal regions that began experiencing the high storm surge hours before the storm has hit were given a mandatory evacuation beginning yesterday and continuing into today. The sheer numbers of evacuees from the coastal area saw the major routes north getting clogged with traffic. It also began the process of insuring that there would be no facilities within any reasonable distance from Houston that would still have room at the inn. No matter how severe the situation there is simply no way to evacuate 10 million people which is the number of people you are talking about if everyone were to run. You could then say that not everyone has to evacuate but if not then who? Who should go and who should stay? Authorities are telling us to "shelter in place" because the high winds and massive rain that is sure to fall tonight and tomorrow will extend for hundreds of miles to the north. So where should you run to? It always seems so obvious that you should just load up and run but it’s not a straightforward decision for anyone caught in the middle. You prepare as best you can, settle in and hope for the best. It’s getting windy now.

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