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Harris County calls some mandatory evacuations at noon
By OBSERVER STAFF REPORTS
Harris County Judge Ed Emmett has called for a mandatory evacuation of eight county zip codes starting at noon today and asked the rest of the area to “hunker down” as Hurricane Ike makes its way to the Houston area.
The evacuation zip codes encompass coastal areas of the county such as the Friendswood, Clear Lake, Baytown and LaPorte areas.
The zip codes for mandatory evacuation at noon are:
77058
77059
77062
77520
77546
77571
77586
77598
Emmett recommended at a press conference this morning with Houston Mayor Bill White for residents in those areas to start making plans to leave the area.
“We’re expecting a storm surge of up to 15 feet,” Emmett said. “We’re not talking about gently rising water.”
The judge and the mayor also stressed residents who are not in the highlighted zip codes to prepare themselves for hurricane force winds between 100 and 115 miles per hour at their homes and stay off the highways to allow people from low lying areas and Galveston County to pass through Harris County.
“For the vast majority who live in our area stay where you,” Emmett said. “We really want to allow those in a storm surge area to leave first.”
The judge said a contra flow plan for the highways, where both sides of a highway filter out only one way, will not be enacted but will be assessed throughout the day and after rush hour this evening.
Harris County and the city of Houston, including courts, will be closed Friday and White urged all area school districts to close on Friday also.
The state’s special needs registry, accessed normally by dialing 2-1-1, has been closed, but anyone needing assistance from this point on is urged to dial 3-1-1 and link directly to local law enforcement, Emmett said.
Another briefing will be held at noon at the TranStar emergency operations headquarters.
Continue checking www.hcnonline.com for all the breaking news on Hurricane Ike.
The evacuation zip codes encompass coastal areas of the county such as the Friendswood, Clear Lake, Baytown and LaPorte areas.
The zip codes for mandatory evacuation at noon are:
77058
77059
77062
77520
77546
77571
77586
77598
Emmett recommended at a press conference this morning with Houston Mayor Bill White for residents in those areas to start making plans to leave the area.
“We’re expecting a storm surge of up to 15 feet,” Emmett said. “We’re not talking about gently rising water.”
The judge and the mayor also stressed residents who are not in the highlighted zip codes to prepare themselves for hurricane force winds between 100 and 115 miles per hour at their homes and stay off the highways to allow people from low lying areas and Galveston County to pass through Harris County.
“For the vast majority who live in our area stay where you,” Emmett said. “We really want to allow those in a storm surge area to leave first.”
The judge said a contra flow plan for the highways, where both sides of a highway filter out only one way, will not be enacted but will be assessed throughout the day and after rush hour this evening.
Harris County and the city of Houston, including courts, will be closed Friday and White urged all area school districts to close on Friday also.
The state’s special needs registry, accessed normally by dialing 2-1-1, has been closed, but anyone needing assistance from this point on is urged to dial 3-1-1 and link directly to local law enforcement, Emmett said.
Another briefing will be held at noon at the TranStar emergency operations headquarters.
Continue checking www.hcnonline.com for all the breaking news on Hurricane Ike.
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