Well, it looks like the report I saw the other day was bogus.

A free fuel plan for hurricane evacuees that was
unveiled to the public by a state official this week was incorrect
and not approved by top emergency leaders, officials said
Wednesday.

The plan was outlined Tuesday for about 500 people -- mostly
Harris County residents -- at the Houston/Galveston Hurricane
Workshop. But state officials said a day later that they were
unfamiliar with the free fuel system described during the public
presentation by Jenniffier Hawes, a regional liaison officer with
the Texas Department of Public Safety.

"The information she presented was incorrect," said Rachael
Novier, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry. "The situation is being
dealt with within the division of emergency management."

* * *

The revelation of a non-existent free fuel plan surprised -- and
scared -- many state agencies and industry officials who would be
directly involved in such a situation.

If motorists showed up to stations expecting free gas during an
evacuation, "we could end up with riots in our driveways," said
Scott Fisher, spokesman for the Texas Petroleum Marketers and
Convenience Store Association.

* * *

According to the state's new evacuation plan, officials will
work closely with gas companies to ensure that stations along
evacuation routes are adequately filled before an evacuation is
called. Officials have said that they will assess the gas supply
and send out tankers 120 hours before tropical storm force winds
make landfall.

On the heels of the erroneous plan going public, Texas
Department of Transportation spokesman Mike Cox said Wednesday that
if stalled drivers are spotted by courtesy patrol trucks, they'll
be given enough gas to get to the nearest station.

"But there will be no free fill-ups," he said.

Well, i hope this works. I'm just curious how they will deal with the traffic gridlock that we saw last September, and how those "courtesy patrol trucks" will get to vehicles that have run out of gass when the roads are moving at under 5 miles per hour.

(H/T Unite Later)

Posted by: Greg at 03:21 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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