Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Gas shortage makes evacuating difficult

Some highlights:

GALVESTON, Texas – Hundreds of thousands of people across the Houston metropolitan area struggled to make their way inland in a bumper-to-bumper exodus Thursday as Hurricane Rita closed in on the nation's fourth-largest city with winds howling at 150 mph.

Drivers ran out of gas in 14-hour traffic jams or looked in vain for a place to stay as hotels hundreds of miles away filled up.
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“Don't follow the example of Katrina and wait. No one will come and get you during the storm,” Harris County Judge Robert Eckels said in Houston.
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Highways leading inland out of Houston, a metropolitan area of 4 million people, were clogged up to 100 miles north of the city. Service stations reported running out of gasoline, and police officers carried gas to motorists who ran out.
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Tow trucks tried to wend their way along the shoulders, pulling stalled cars out of the way.

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“Jackie Thomason waits anxiously in line for fuel at one of the few open gas stations in Pasadena, Texas, Thursday, Sept. 22, 2005. Thomason and her husband are evacuating the Houston area prior to Hurricane Rita arriving. Thomason said she was scared without fuel they would not be able to evacuate. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)”