[stephenhuey]

I was here in town for both Rita (the storm that "didn't happen" that put 3 million people on the road at once) and also Ike. Lots of rescues have been needed but that number is tiny compared to the population of Houston. Your suggestion to evacuate certain areas doesn't work here--there'd be far too many areas. Houstonians are generally knowledgable about staying safe in a storm such as this, and evacuations have often led to avoidable deaths and other problems in the past. I've been sitting in the middle of the city for days and I'm with the local officials on this one, not the governor.