I was wondering if people would be willing to share their experiences of being evacuated-hurricanes, flooding, snowstorm, etc. I've read some of the stories already posted.

I'm interested in experiences being stuck in those long lines on the freeway/highway. What's it like? What should one expect?

What was gas mileage like in your BOV?
Gas station lines?
Use your gas cans in traffic or pull off and discretely fill up?

Lessons learned, what worked, what didn't, things to have or not have, etc.

Thanks in Advance!

My experiences are to wait until the herd passes (after an evacuation has been called), which means having 12 hours to pack, make arrangements (plans) for everything. We hit the virtually abandoned Interstate and make 75 MPH all the way to our place of refuge.

We had a front-row seat when Houston evacuated before Hurricane Rita. Our front door is three blocks off I-45, the main route north out of Houston. We had planned on evacuating but even by Wednesday afternoon the roads were gridlocked. The storm wasn't going to hit until Saturday.

Random rememberances:
1. Getting out of our neighborhood was impossible as we exit right on to I-45.
2. Getting back to our neighborhood was also very, very tough.
3. Businesses with large parking lots along I-45 turned into refugee camps. People were running out of gas, cars were breaking down, and people were just wearing out. They'd pull into the parking lots and set up "camp". The amount of garbage left behind was incredible.
4. People drove like maniacs through ditches, wrong way down streets, along shoulders, all at really high rates of speed. Pee on the side of the road at your own risk!
5. If you could see it on a map so could 100,000 other people.
6. A normal 4-hour drive took a MINIMUM of 19 hours.
7. Service stations had no gas for the evacuation and the return!
8. The gridlock prevented gas tankers from refilling gas stations.
9. Lots of people who didn't need to flee did. Usually taking two or more cars.
10. It'd be hard to carry too much gasoline, but store it safely and hidden. Hidden in suitcases tied to the roof works.
11. Strangers can be suprisingly kind.
12. If you abandon your car it WILL be broken into and stripped.
13. Police blocked I-45 on/off-ramps from Houston to half-way to Dallas to keep the traffic flowing "smoothly". Once you were on the road you could not exit except by driving through the ditch.
14. People wanted ice and gas.
15. 2 mph in 100F heat is HOT!!! Drink lots of water.
16. Running your AC in the above situation will overheat your car and suck your gas. A fan you can plug into the cigarette lighter helps a lot, the bigger the better.
17. Kids/pets can't handle it as well as you. Popcicles help a lot.
18. Bring too much gas, too much ice (summer), too much money, and a few bags of cookies. If you have space left over stuff other gear in there.
19. Try to stay calm. Freaking out doesn't help and can makes a situation suddenly get much worse.
20. It really was a nightmare out of a bad sci-fi EOTW movie...

Also see here and here .

-Blast

Exactly as I have predicted/expected for years! Good report!!!

One day in the LA (CA) traffic and you will be ready to confront anything that the rest of the US throws at you.

We went north on I-5 thru Seattle about this time last year, it was as bad, or maybe worse, as anything I ever saw in L.A. Think the 405, on the busiest day of the week, a holiday to boot, with three lanes blocked every other ramp. It was BAD!!!

"Amen!" yells the audience.

During college, if I left after 6:05 am, my 19 mile drive took 3 hours. Didn't matter if it was surface roads or freeway.

That is interesting. All you ever hear from the media is "Go! Go! Go!" Did they ever advise people to stay put?

Yes, actually the Houston media and Mayor White kept showing big maps of expected danger areas and asked only people in those areas to evacuate. They tried to organize it so people closest to the shore would leave first and then the next closest would leave, etc.

It didn't work out that way though. Everyone loaded up the car and headed out. The mayor got to the point of begging people not to add to the traffic chaos and for those of us who live near the evacuation routes to offer whatever help we could to the stranded motorists.

-Blast

Doesn't always work that way. I-10 (East and West) as well as I-55 North out of New Orleans were still gridlocked when Katrina made landfall.

My advice, carry as much extra fuel as you safely can and start in a "non-obvious" direction (if possible). If I were evacuating from Rita after seeing the evacuation from Katrina, I would have started by going South.