Why we didn't leave Houston

There are a number of reasons why we decided to stay in Houston.

-The forecast changed. The storm path shifted eastward, so we are no longer on the dirty (stronger) side of the storm. As long as the storm makes landfall east of Galveston Bay, we should be fine. We would then be 100+ miles from the center and would barely see hurricane strength winds (74 mph winds). Furthermore, our house is well shielded by other houses on the north side, so we should not experience most of the wind..

-This is a fast moving storm, so right now, the flood possibilities are low. All the forecasts state 5"-12" of rain. That should not flood where we live.

So other than a few days without power, it shouldn't be dangerous where we are with one caveat - if the storm stays on the current path or east of it.

Also all the roads are so congested that it would be more dangerous to run out of gas along the road than it would be to stay where we are. Furthermore, gas has become a scarce resource, we couldn't waste it sitting in traffic. I guess the smart thing would have been to drive out on Tuesday.

I hope we made the right choice. I guess we'll know in a few days, but so far the drive away today option seemed like the bad one.