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112 comments on Rita Old Comment Thread 2

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Bubba on September 22, 2005 - 10:11am Permalink | Subthread | Comments top
I took a walk with my dog this AM up to I10 to look at the traffic going out of Houston (near Katy).  The road is a parking lot (and that is not hyperbole).  There is no gas.  I suspect that a lot of people are running out of gas on the freeway just idling, which is slowing up the traffic even more.  I also suspect that a lot of people are going to have to leave their cars and find shelter somewhere near the road, as they won't be able to drive to the destination they intended. Many, many, many people are leaving town.  The fear in many people, especially those who have never experienced a hurricane, is palpable.

Even if Houston is completely spared, it is going to take a week from Saturday until the city will be funtioning normally again.  Everything is shut down.  If the refineries, petroleum storage facilties, and batch plants are damaged it will take a long time to resupply fuel to the gasoline stations.  Not only that, but the tankers have to use the same roads everyone else will be using to try to get back home.

I will try to keep posting here (or at my blog http://beastsbelly.blogspot.com ) over the next few days to keep people informed of life on the ground.  

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reno on September 22, 2005 - 10:20am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I heard on the weather channel that 100,000 cars could run out of gas on I10 headed for Dallas . What a disaster that would be!!
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MikeCapone on September 22, 2005 - 10:37am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
"There is no gas.  I suspect that a lot of people are running out of gas on the freeway just idling,"

I guess that the people who drive a Prius (or most hybrids, actually) are happy about their purchase now since the car shuts off the engine when the car is stop and it can move along slowly in traffic on electric power alone (saving TONS of gas in situations like bumper to bumper traffic).

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BobMorris on September 22, 2005 - 11:36am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I've owned a Prius since they were first released in the US. 46 mpg in Los Angeles traffic. And yes, the gas engine shuts off automatically when the car stops.

It hold slightly less than 12 gallons, thus I can go 550 miles on a tank.

Toyota has said they expect all their cars will be hybrids within the next several years.

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Alligator24 on September 22, 2005 - 2:27pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I've got an Audi A2 1.2 Diesel who also stopps automatically the engine when pressing the brake and standing.  With me it consumes about 70 (british) MPG inner-city and 80-85 MPG combined (65 to 70 US-MPG)

Who is offering more?

One fill are slightly more than 9 gallons and it will power the car for about 600 miles.

With the aluminium alloy space frame the car is quite light-weighted and it has a world-record CW-value.

This car it's some real cool stuff :o)

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MikeCapone on September 22, 2005 - 3:34pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
There's no doubt that Europe and Asia have some greats cars, but they are simply not available (yet) in North-America (and that's a damn shame). I don't own a car and might have to get one next spring. I might go for the new Toyota Yaris or the Honda Fit/Jazz (I'm in Canada, btw).
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bhyde on September 22, 2005 - 8:56pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
re idling the car.  The high in Houston today is 99 degrees F.  So I suspect folks are running the engine to keep the air conditioning going.

I suspect there is an optimal speed for getting the most people out of town/hour; that they should be blocking traffic and letting bursts of cars move thru to assure the highway runs at that speed.  I wonder what the math/simulations have to say about that.

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Leanan on September 23, 2005 - 9:57am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
You are correct.  There is an optimal "level of service" (car density).  Too few cars on the road, and you have some people speeding, changing lanes, etc., which actually slows down traffic overall.  Too many, and it's the bumper to bumper mess we have now.  The optimal number allows traffic to flow well, but does not allow people to change lanes easily, nor to drive too fast.  As a result, everyone stays in their lane, everyone keeps up, and everyone keeps moving.

In some cities, they actually close off the on-ramps in order to maintain this optimal level of service (during rush hour, say).  After a certain point, more cars on the highway actually means less people getting out, so they don't allow anyone else on.  

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wadosy on September 22, 2005 - 11:04am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
this whole caper is another feather in kunstler's hat.

i can't wait to see his inevitable rant about the stupidity of the use of automobiles when fleeing disasters.

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The Interloafer on September 22, 2005 - 12:49pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Me neither.
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Prof. Goose on September 22, 2005 - 1:06pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Oh crap Bubba...wow.  Be safe, man.
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helium3 on September 22, 2005 - 2:40pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Don't forget that they'll most likely shut the refineries down completely before the storm hits and that it (apparently) takes about a week to get back up to full capacity after that. So, even if the storm turns into a Cat 1 wimp by the time it hits, there will still be a brief interruption in production.
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112 comments on Rita Old Comment Thread 2

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