There was no reason for 90% of the people who evacuated for Hurricane Rita to do so. The media-driven panic caused massive gridlocks and gasoline shortages that left people stranded in coastal areas that NEEDED to move inland for their immediate safety.
Oh I dunno, I think given what happened with Katrina 3 weeks earlier, it was better to be safe than sorry. Those in NOLA were told to leave, but wouldn't or couldn't got wrecked.
I live in Lake Charles La, and Rita hit here, I left the day before we were ordered to leave, no traffic at all, and was out of the radius of resource drain before the storm got here. The only reason there were people stuck in gridlock was because they didn't leave when told to...and ran out of gas.
I stayed at my parents house in PA, in nice late summer weather, while those that stayed suffered 100 deg heat with no electricity. I was glad to be gone. When I rolled into town 3 weeks later, trees were piled 20feet high along
every road, it was like driving through a tunnel. Every roof had a blue tarp, some now just getting repaired, and most stores were not open for many months, some not open until after the new year, if they returned at all. The damage here is still evident, almost 2 years after Rita.
I live 30 miles from the coast, next to the Calcasieu River, the tidal surge stopped 2 miles south of me, Cameron Parish below me is Gone.
Worry or get whipped into a frenzy when a storm is a week away? I think some might.
) that is "bearing down on Houston" (It will be Monday before we know if it even gets in the Gulf 
