Evacuate the City HOW? :: Park and Ride, of course ... Bicycles, that is.

Get Ready, Get SET ... Go !!
Article Retrieved in Entirety [HERE] by Pat Darnell

Dennis Markatos ... founder of Sustainable Energy Transition (SET)
Posted: May 26, 2009 06:45 PM

US Bike Sales Higher than Car Sales in 2009
[SOURCE]
During the first quarter of 2009, more bicycles were sold in the US than cars and trucks. While the Great Recession is hurting bike sales, they didn't fall as fast as automobiles. Around 2.6 million bicycle purchases were made, compared to less than 2.5 million cars and trucks that left our nation's lots.

Bicycle Sales Still Hurt by Recession

I don't mean to say that bicycle sales are unfazed by the recession. They are actually down more than 30% from the first quarter of 2008. But that percentage drop is slower than the 35+% drop in sales for cars and trucks. Since nationwide gasoline prices are now rising above $2.40 per gallon at the pump, we may see another wave of US residents shifting to bicycles for their everyday trips. The large savings from riding a bike over short distances rather than driving can help consumer confidence and support economic recovery.

Even Long Trips Can be by Bike

Visionary activists are creating opportunities for cyclists to safely travel longer distances as well. For instance, the East Coast Greenway Alliance aims to connect greenways from Key West, FL, to Calais, ME, on a 3,000-mile long paved trail. For me, it's an exciting potential to visit family and friends in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island (or even the longer trip to my native state of North Carolina!) via bicycle. So far, many corridors of the East Coast Greenway (ECG) are built. But gaps in the trail exist that we all can chip-in to connect. One important current opportunity is for us to show our elected leaders that we support the completion of the ECG and other trails throughout our country as part of the federal transportation bill to be deliberated this summer.

Climate Benefits of Bicycling

Not only are there cost savings from such local and intercity rides, but there are environmental benefits too -- especially in the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. While an average solo car trip or airplane ride emits more than 1 pound of CO2 per mile, bicycling or walking emits close to zero. If we need to travel hundreds of miles, there are great low-carbon strategies for travel that include mass transit and carpooling, keeping our average emissions less than 1/2 a pound of CO2 per mile.

Infrastructure Development Crucial

For Americans to put these millions of new bicycles to use, government leaders from the federal to the local level need to give more support to the construction and maintenance of safe bike lanes and greenways. Such work can be a much-needed source of job growth. From neighborhood paths to an urban counterpart of the Appalachian Trail, bicycling has great growth potential.

Let's make it happen!
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* Dennis, if MooPig is with you, who on earth could be against you???
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Over-Night Scaled-back Massive Mandatory Evacuation in Bryan

Eagle Staff Report
Published Friday, July 31, 2009 6:05 AM
Blaze prompts mass evacuation in Bryan

Officials scaled back a massive mandatory evacuation in Bryan to just 500 homes Thursday evening, allowing most residents to return after a chemical fire at a plant forced them out hours earlier.

At least 35 people were treated and released at area hospitals for respiratory problems after the blaze at El Dorado Chemical Co. on Texas 21 shot a plume of brown-orange smoke that hung high over the area through much of the day. A thin, low-lying cloud could be seen late Thursday.

No life-threatening injuries were reported; however, one patient was kept overnight, officials said.


Dispatchers said that the chemical that caught fire -- possibly as an employee performed welding work -- was ammonium nitrate, which the company produces to be sold as a fertilizer.

Bryan Fire Chief Mike Donoho said a small crew of about eight officials from the Bryan and College Station fire departments, along with a hazardous materials team, would remain at the command center at Smetana Exxon on Texas 21 overnight to monitor the blaze.

UPDATE :: Evacuation of Bryan :: UPDATE

Published Thursday, July 30, 2009 4:43 PM
Information for evacuees

Hundreds of people have poured into Texas A&M’s Reed Arena and A&M Consolidated Middle School, which have opened as shelters for Bryan and rural Brazos County residents.
Residents and workers in Bryan, as well as parts of rural Brazos County, were asked to evacuate after a fire at a Bryan plant at about noon created a chemical cloud that’s been slow to leave the area. Texas A&M University’s flagship campus and Blinn College in Bryan both have closed until further notice.

Reed Arena, which seats 12,500, is a block off Wellborn Road on Olsen Boulevard; A&M Consolidated Middle School at 105 Holick in College Station.

Should you leave your house?


The evacuation is mandatory for people north of University Drive and Hardy Weeden Road from the Brazos River in west Brazos County to the eastern Brazos County line, which means most of Bryan. Drive south and do not travel into the smoke.


Who to call?


Authorities said 911 dispatchers in Brazos County have been inundated with non-emergency calls related to the chemical cloud in Bryan.

Officials are asking people with concerns and questions to call 821-1000, which is the Brazos County Emergency Operations Center in downtown Bryan.

A shelter has been set up at Reed Arena on the Texas A&M University campus for residents needing a place to stay.

Anyone with significant signs of respiratory distress should call 911.

Where to take your pets

Pearce Pavilion is across the street from Reed Arena and volunteers there will house your household pets.

The following roads are closed:


F.M. 2818 SB at Texas 6 west frontage road (North of town)

Texas Ave SB at Texas 6 (North)

F.M. 974 SB at Texas 6 west frontage road

Tabor Rd. at Texas 6 west frontage road

Texas 21 westbound at Texas 6 west frontage road

F.M. 158 westbound at Texas 6 west frontage road

F.M. 1179 westbound at Texas 6 west frontage road

Texas Ave. northbound at F.M. 60 (University Drive)

Traffic is being required to turn left or right to head east/west down F.M. 60

F.M. 2818 NB at F.M. 60

F.M. 1179 (Villa Maria) eastbound at Texas 47 (West side of town)

F.M. 1688 (Leonard) eastbound at Texas 47 (West side of town)

Texas 21 eastbound at Texas 47

Traffic required to turn around or head southbound on Texas 47

F.M. 1687 eastbound at F.M. 2818

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Published Thursday, July 30, 2009 3:35 PM

Fire forces evacuations

View Larger Map
Fire officials are asking all Bryan residents and businesses to evacuate south to College Station as a precaution after a blaze at a chemical plant on Texas 21 shot a plume of cream-orange smoke that can be seen for miles.

No time limit has been placed on the Thursday evacuation order, but officials said they hope the chemical cloud will continue to fade in time for residents and business owners to return tonight.

Fire Chief Mike Donoho said everyone north of University Drive in Bryan should leave the city limits until further notice.

“I’m sorry if it’s an inconvenience to people, but we’re erring on the side of caution,” Donoho said. “This is a dangerous chemical and we don’t want to wait and see if it’s going to be bad. We need to take action now.”

Evacuations started just after the noon fire within a four-mile radius of the factory, which is between Texas 47 and F.M. 2818.

Hospitals in Bryan and College Station were put on notice that they soon will be receiving patients experiencing respiratory problems from inhaling the chemicals.

Authorities urged anyone who can "smell it or see it" to leave the area immediately.

Government officials have activated the Community Emergency Operations Center in Downtown Bryan. A worker at the center who answered the phone said they were trying to get a handle on the situation just before 3 p.m.

“Right now we really don’t know,” he said, when asked what the public should be doing. “We have a lot of misinformation and we are trying to get some confirmed information. They are talking about evacuating a lot of the area of Bryan.”

More specifics were expected soon. People need to evacuate going south, away from the smoke, he said.

No injuries have been reported and firefighters are letting the chemical burn off rather than fight the dangerous fire up close. The chemical is an irritant to the respiratory system, the skin and eyes.

A shelter has been set up at Reed Arena on the Texas A&M University campus. Anyone with pressing concerns or questions should call the fire department at 209-5960.

Texas 21 between F.M. 2818 and Texas 47 was closed, as well as all roads leading to Texas 21 in the area, officials said.

Motorists trying to get into Bryan and College Station on Texas 21 from Caldwell need to take Texas 47, which goes to F.M. 60.

Dispatchers on police scanners discussed that the chemical that caught fire — possibly from a worker welding — likely was ammonium nitrate.

Bryan Fire Department Lt. Blake Barrentine said the fire at the El Dorado Chemical Company began around noon, and officials with his department, along with the Brazos County Precinct 4 Fire Department and the College Station Fire Department’s hazardous materials team are on the scene.

The Brazos County Sheriff’s Department and Texas Department of Public Safety are assisting, he said.

No casualties or injuries have been reported, he said.

Government officials have activated the Community Emergency Operations Center in Downtown Bryan. A worker at the center who answered the phone said they were trying to get a handle on the situation just before 3 p.m.

“Right now we really don’t know,” he said, when asked what the public should be doing. “We have a lot of misinformation and we are trying to get some confirmed information. They are talking about evacuating a lot of the area of Bryan.”

Bryan officials said that the city's compost facility was evacuated, which may cause some interruption in service for the residential brush and bulky collection today. Routes not collected today will be collected as soon as possible, officials said.

• Eagle staff writers Matthew Watkins, Stuart Villanueva and Michelle Casady contributed to this report.

Gustav -- UPDATE

Forecasters expect Hurricane Gustav to grow into a Category 3 hurricane and make landfall Monday or Tuesday on the Texas or Louisiana coast.

Weather watchers cautioned that the storm's track and intensity are difficult to predict this far in advance.

"We have a few days to wait and see," Frazier said.

If the hurricane aims for Louisiana, up to 50,000 evacuees could head for Texas, officials said.

"We know it's going to head into the Gulf. After that, we're not sure where it's heading," said Rebecca Waddington, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center.

Published Thursday, August 28, 2008 6:55 AM [clik HERE for whole article]

Hurricane may send evacuees to Brazos

By CASSIE SMITH

New Orleans city officials were also using the days ahead of the storm to prepare, making plans for a mandatory evacuation of the city should a Category 3 or stronger hurricane come within 60 hours of the city.

Gustav formed Monday and came ashore Tuesday as a Category 1 hurricane near the southern Haitian city of Jacmel, with top winds near 90 mph. It toppled palm trees and flooded the city's Victorian wooden buildings. The storm triggered flooding and landslides that killed at least 11 people in the Caribbean. It weakened into a tropical storm and appeared headed for Cuba, though is likely to grow stronger in the coming days by feeding on warm open water.

* The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Remember the Evacuation of Houston? Get ready for some real Quasi ~ clogging

Bunged Freeways and the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5, HSPD-5
§ What is the answer to traffic and freeway congestion in event of evacuation?
4Under the NRP, the Secretary of Homeland Security will consider, but is not limited to, the four criteria stated in Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 (HSPD-5) when deciding whether to declare an incident of national significance. These criteria are: (1) a federal department or agency acting under its own authority has requested the assistance of the Secretary of Homeland Security, (2) the resources of state and local authorities are overwhelmed and federal assistance has been requested by the appropriate state and local authorities, (3) more than one federal department or agency has become substantially involved in responding to an incident, or (4) the Secretary of Homeland Security has been directed to assume responsibility for managing a domestic incident by the President. (Disaster Preparedness: Preliminary Observations on the Evacuation of Vulnerable Populations due to Hurricanes and Other Disasters. GAO-06-790T . Washington, D.C.: May 18, 2006)

Oksee maw’ ron
The whole materialization of automobile clogging in an emergency evacuation is an oxymoron. If I am interpreting oxymoron correctly, a phrase in which two words of contradictory meaning are used together for special effect, e.g. "wise fool" or "legal murder" or “pretty awful” or “unabashedly abridged” or other forms of understatement, like “Cubs ~ World Series," so that:

Emergency ~ evacuation ~ Freeway ~ congestion ~ parking lot ~ pedestrian ~ emergency ::

>>>then the argument is false positive, such as emergency equals emergency!

"Houston, we have a problem"

Ever since they started building in the rice fields of Katy west suburban Houston, and building up the Stafford/ Sugar land salt grasses, things have not gone right for low lying Houston Metro and suburban land. Houston is barely 50 feet above sea level, and Greater Houston is more or less a transition from salt gulf to foothills. So what up? Oh, maybe a little suburban wide neighborhood commtiment to local governance would help. Or as stated above (2) "...the resources of state and local authorities are overwhelmed and federal assistance has been requested by the appropriate state and local authorities...

Automotive Clogging
The argument presents a corollary of not less than six possible venues for evacuation of Houston, in event of impending disaster, and at least three basic forces of evacuation:

• Emergency evacuation > automobile
• automobile > freeway
• freeway > clogged
• bunged freeway > parking lot
• Parking lot > immobile automobile
• auto immobile > people on foot
• pedestrians > Emergency evacuation

Okay, I’m glad I got that out of the way. As the emergency evacuation is shown to be a galactic epileptic seizure, there remains one nagging issue. “Houston, we have a problem.” It seems Houstonians are so busy fixing other’s problems, they have only 20 hours or so to tend to the bizarre flagellation of self-inflicted total freeway clogging; and forget the whole thing by the next day.

I mentioned earlier there are at least three basic forces upsetting the impending evacuation of Houston-land:

1. Design Failure
2. Design Failure
3. Design Failure
   ...and an unprincipled, dodgy knack Houston-land-Estonians’ have of never learning from their mistakes, uncanny as this all seems. >Pd out