[Austin to Houston] When would be a good time to go back?

If you are in Austin, and you live west of I-45 north and Hwy 288 south, you could come back now if it weren't for the curfews. I recommend you get up at ~5:00am and get on the road.

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST: The traffic coming back will be worse than leaving. Instead of having a massive movement away from a compact area, we will have the exact opposite which could compound the traffic jams. They can try all they want to tell people to stagger their return, but human nature will cause another mad rush back. I expect it to be pretty ugly.

If there was ambiguity on damage in the Houston area, some people would wait an extra day or two and maybe things wouldn't be so bad. But when everyone wakes up tomorrow and sees nothing happened at all except to the coastal areas, it will be the same song, opposite direction. I also don't think they will be able to open up counterflow lanes this time around because no emergency is involved. And gasoline should be even scarcer.

 

Not to mention having to compete with all the trucks that will be hauling replenshiments into the gas stations, Walmarts, etc.

 

has houston seen the worst of the hurricane by now?

 

If I were you, I'd head back now to avoid the traffic.

 

Head back right now codell, this was a sissy azz storm

 

yeah that was what I was thinking.. just waiting for my wife and kids to wake up.. coming from dallas probably so gonna take 35S then Hwy 6 thru Bryan/College Station then 149/249.. what do you think of that route?

 

Houston apparently has seen the worst. It's moving north and giving the Jasper and Livingston area a lot of trouble right now. They're saying about 100mph winds.

 

Unless you live in the very, very far off NE side of town (coldspring area), then yah the storm is over pretty much. Certainly if you live anywhere near the SW side of town (which about 2/3 of Houstonians do) then you're in good shape; I am talking Stafford, Fondren SW, Sugar Land, Missouri City, etc.

 

I'm not sure I'd want to drive back from Dallas right now. It seems to me like you'd be driving through a bunch of strong wind and rain with this storm still moving north.

 

Depends on where you evacuated to, but it is safe to go back to Houston now, I believe.

DD

 

We are in Kansas, what a waste of Gas. What do y'all think of coming back now- I am just worried my wife will have to be at work on Monday. If we took a back way through WACO and then up the Westpark tollway to our place....any thoughts? Is the power up in the Westchase area?

 

Well, I guess if you are in Dallas, you might want to wait first before you head out of town (preferably wait until tomorrow).

If you left town for Austin or San Antonio, it's best to head back ASAP, but just be careful once you enter city limits, because there could be some debris on the roads, so just exercise caution, that's all.

In the SW part of town, I have power and it never really went out to begin with. I imagine Stafford, Sugar Land, maybe the Westheimer/Beltway area doesn't have power outages. This part of town wasn't really 'hit', so to speak.

 

Beat the rush, if you wait it will be a massive traffic jam, I am always the kind of guy who likes to get going early....

Beat the rush so to speak.

DD

 

Ditto

 

The question is. . .When will the rush be?
Can I expect the Freeways to be jammed up tomorrow
and monday and maybe some of Tuesday

Normalcy will not return to Houston until AT LEAST Wednesday

Rocket River

 

Gov Perry said do NOT return yet.

I wish a movie theatre would open up or something today.

 

Yup! It will take at LEAST three full days for all that traffic to come back to Houston and through Houston to Galvestion and other southern towns.

Traffic will be a b*tch this whole week.

 

If you know of any, let me know

 

According to ABC13, there are already lots of people heading back apparently. They are showing live video of lots of traffic on highways heading back into town, so it seems like the rush back has already begun, regardless of what Perry said.

 

Yea . . I mean it is looking like a pretty nice day today in Houston
as people see the news feeds. . they gonna rush back

Rocket River