Houston's far enough inland
that normally the people who evacuate are those by the coast or in known flood prone areas. Katrina changed that.
[link|http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/special/05/rita/3371053|Rita inspired flight, not fight, from area]
It takes a lot to pierce the bravery \ufffd and the bravado \ufffd of a Gulf Coast culture inured to big weather. The typical response to storm threats: Board up the windows, grab a box of batteries, pop open a beer.
This time we ran. Having seen the handiwork of Rita's vicious cousin, Katrina, all of Houston's coastal suburbs and a good percentage of everybody else in the area decided that discretion was the better part of valor. There was no talk of hurricane parties.
...
Residents don't flee The Woodlands, 100 miles from the coast. This time was different.
...
Katrina's hold over Houston was overwhelming, in part because so many Louisiana refugees ended up here, in part because so many Houstonians had relatives, friends and co-workers who were affected.
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"One impact of Hurricane Katrina was a loss of confidence in government and its ability to protect you after the storm," Lindell said. "I think a lot of people felt, I have to look out for myself and my family. I can't count on local, state or federal government to look after me. I can't control the storm or the government, but I can get on the road."
Darrell Spice, Jr. [link|http://spiceware.org/gallery/ArtisticOverpass|Artistic Overpass]\n[link|http://www.spiceware.org/|SpiceWare] - We don't do Windows, it's too much of a chore
