Hurricane Irma proof cars need bigger gas tanks?

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"We’re looking at one of the largest evacuations in U.S. history. More than 6 million people live in southern Florida. As they all pile into their cars and try to outrun this massive storm, experts are telling those not in storm surge areas, low-lying flood areas or coastal areas to try to stay put. “The majority of Florida will have major hurricane impact and deadly winds. We expect this along the entire east coast and west coast,” Scott said at a news conference. “All Floridians should be prepared to evacuate.”

But Florida has only two main roads: interstates 95 and 75. They are parking lots, and have been for days. People are sitting in their vehicles, completely stopped on four-lane highways, running out of gas. There are no exits on these roads for scores of miles at a time. Once you get on a Florida highway, you are not getting off."


I guess this is why full size trucks are everso popular
 
Why did't FL make the south bound freeways into north bound as well? Video showed almost nothing for traffic going south. Drop the south bound into a single lane and all the rest north bound? If I remember right the highway out of Corpus Christie TX does this.
 
Yea , it isn't like this is the first hurricane to ever hit Florida !

But , please , do not relocate those brilliant public servants to Texas !

Kind of like all those school buses left parked in New Orleans during Katrina . Really smart people " protecting " people and trying to manage things . :-(

You all be safe out there . God bless you and yours , :)

Wyr
 
I think a large part of the problem is that huge disaster events are simply too difficult to practice for. They are not too common so the priority to practice is low, and the state and federal governments don't have funds to come up with really good plans in advance. The best we seem to have is the ability to borrow money for FEMA to issue funds for affected areas to recover after the event has occurred.

I live in a city that was hit by a very large tornado in the last decade and it was a mess for our local law enforcement and fire to figure out who did what.
 
laugh.gif
tyipical American thinking...

NO you just need lighter (smaller) & more fuel efficient cars
whistle.gif
 
I wonder if those who ran out of gas weren't prepared or didn't have the means to fillup prior to. It's rare, but before every storm I make sure all tanks are full (along with the other usual preps, such as charging all batteries and checking other supplies). Worst case, we have a mobile, air-conditioned space to keep us comfortable or move us away from danger.

I can't imagine living in a disaster-prone area and not having an even more robust plan, such as multiple tanks of gas ready to go, just in case. At the very least, I'd maintain a mostly full tank of gas during hurricane season, and fillup as much as is practicable when one is tracking toward the mainland.

Originally Posted By: DaRider34
I guess this is why full size trucks are everso popular


Many mid-size sedans have identical range. They also burn less fuel at idle. I'm blown away that my first tank of gas got me more than 500 miles in the new-to-me Legacy. 400 miles per tank was a pretty rare achievement in most of my previous vehicles.
 
Many gas stations (over 70%) were closed in FL before the evacuation was given because we rely on Houston refineries and they were off line for 10 days before south Floridians started evacuating.

Apparently there was an assumption by evacuees and government officials that fuel was available as you traveled further north so people left home without a full tank..

I am of the impression that many FL residents and politicians were overly frightened by the photos and news coming from TX. The news made it appear that all of East TX was under water but friends from that area have reported that was not true.

It was forecast we would receive between 10'-15' storm surge after Irma eye passed. We got maybe 1' higher high tide than expected. 1' and not 10'-15'.

After Irma hit here, the local news found the very worst street with the most number of trees across the roadway to take their photoshoot of the damage. It was not an accurate portrayal of average damage here but the news just wants sensational devastation.

There was a 2-mile long traffic jam on I-75 that stopped 2 of 3 northbound lanes. All of these vehicles were in line for a gas station off the exit. The line started at the pump and spilled out down the exit ramp and 2 miles onto I-75.

This is not to make light of the Keys and Venice. They have heen seriously destroyed. It was very smart for those residents to evacuate. But Uncle Sam should have assured fuel inventory was available.
 
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
I wonder if those who ran out of gas weren't prepared or didn't have the means to fillup prior to. It's rare, but before every storm I make sure all tanks are full (along with the other usual preps, such as charging all batteries and checking other supplies). Worst case, we have a mobile, air-conditioned space to keep us comfortable or move us away from danger.

I can't imagine living in a disaster-prone area and not having an even more robust plan, such as multiple tanks of gas ready to go, just in case. At the very least, I'd maintain a mostly full tank of gas during hurricane season, and fillup as much as is practicable when one is tracking toward the mainland.

Originally Posted By: DaRider34
I guess this is why full size trucks are everso popular


Many mid-size sedans have identical range. They also burn less fuel at idle. I'm blown away that my first tank of gas got me more than 500 miles in the new-to-me Legacy. 400 miles per tank was a pretty rare achievement in most of my previous vehicles.



75% of the gas stations were out of fuel for 3-4 days before Irma hit because the refinery shut downs in Houston.

Nobody keeps 20-:30 gallons of spare gas and diesel in their garage during hurricane season for obvious fire hazard.

The idea of refueling when the gas tank reaches 3/4 full would be a good practice but there were altercations at those gas stations which were open before the storm arrived.

TX was an example of communities coming together.
FL before Irma hit was an examlle of just the opposite.

The looting in FL has been bad.

The Keys are still blocked and require special travel permits.

Curfews are in effect in the Keys because residents who did remain are armed and ready to protect what supplies they do have left.
Stores are still without power. All electricity is out.
 
Originally Posted By: Kamele0N
laugh.gif
tyipical American thinking...

NO you just need lighter (smaller) & more fuel efficient cars
whistle.gif



Well , you are welcome to your opinion , but lighter (smaller) & more fuel efficient cars would not make much difference if you are stuck on a freeway & no one is moving .

What would have helped is if those people had evacuated several days previously . Before the freeways turned into parking lots .

Best wishes , :)
 
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
I wonder if those who ran out of gas weren't prepared or didn't have the means to fillup prior to. It's rare, but before every storm I make sure all tanks are full (along with the other usual preps, such as charging all batteries and checking other supplies). Worst case, we have a mobile, air-conditioned space to keep us comfortable or move us away from danger.

I can't imagine living in a disaster-prone area and not having an even more robust plan, such as multiple tanks of gas ready to go, just in case. At the very least, I'd maintain a mostly full tank of gas during hurricane season, and fillup as much as is practicable when one is tracking toward the mainland.

Originally Posted By: DaRider34
I guess this is why full size trucks are everso popular


Many mid-size sedans have identical range. They also burn less fuel at idle. I'm blown away that my first tank of gas got me more than 500 miles in the new-to-me Legacy. 400 miles per tank was a pretty rare achievement in most of my previous vehicles.



Our little Chevy Sonic gets around 35 MPG on the road , but only has an 11 - 12 gallon tank . Do the math , some where around 400 miles .

Best wishes , :)
 
Originally Posted By: ArcticDriver
Many gas stations (over 70%) were closed in FL before the evacuation was given because we rely on Houston refineries and they were off line for 10 days before south Floridians started evacuating.

Apparently there was an assumption by evacuees and government officials that fuel was available as you traveled further north so people left home without a full tank..

I am of the impression that many FL residents and politicians were overly frightened by the photos and news coming from TX. The news made it appear that all of East TX was under water but friends from that area have reported that was not true.

It was forecast we would receive between 10'-15' storm surge after Irma eye passed. We got maybe 1' higher high tide than expected. 1' and not 10'-15'.

After Irma hit here, the local news found the very worst street with the most number of trees across the roadway to take their photoshoot of the damage. It was not an accurate portrayal of average damage here but the news just wants sensational devastation.

There was a 2-mile long traffic jam on I-75 that stopped 2 of 3 northbound lanes. All of these vehicles were in line for a gas station off the exit. The line started at the pump and spilled out down the exit ramp and 2 miles onto I-75.

This is not to make light of the Keys and Venice. They have heen seriously destroyed. It was very smart for those residents to evacuate. But Uncle Sam should have assured fuel inventory was available.


Might be a good idea to build some refineries in Florida ?

Take care out there , :)
 
Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
I wonder if those who ran out of gas weren't prepared or didn't have the means to fillup prior to. It's rare, but before every storm I make sure all tanks are full (along with the other usual preps, such as charging all batteries and checking other supplies). Worst case, we have a mobile, air-conditioned space to keep us comfortable or move us away from danger.

I can't imagine living in a disaster-prone area and not having an even more robust plan, such as multiple tanks of gas ready to go, just in case. At the very least, I'd maintain a mostly full tank of gas during hurricane season, and fillup as much as is practicable when one is tracking toward the mainland.

Originally Posted By: DaRider34
I guess this is why full size trucks are everso popular


Many mid-size sedans have identical range. They also burn less fuel at idle. I'm blown away that my first tank of gas got me more than 500 miles in the new-to-me Legacy. 400 miles per tank was a pretty rare achievement in most of my previous vehicles.



Our little Chevy Sonic gets around 35 MPG on the road , but only has an 11 - 12 gallon tank . Do the math , some where around 400 miles .

Best wishes , :)


My Mercedes E-350 has a 21 gallon tank, but gas mileage is only about 22-24 on the highway and less at 16-18 in the city. Car manufacturers pretty much design cars with tanks that only go 300-400 miles. Carry more gas and gas mileage will suffer as they do all they can now to shave off every pound. Gasoline is about 6 pounds per gallon.
 
Very good post ArcticDriver.

I would add Rte 41, Rte 1, Rte 27, Rte 17 are alternative routes into Florida as well. More than likely a better way back than taking Interstate 95 or 75 only.
 
People just do not prepare for disasters. I can see the San Andreas fault from my front door as can many others in SoCal. 99% of the people here do not have extra water,food or fuel stored like we do.
 
Nope. Ample time to evacuate before the masses, the only people stuck were the ones who chose to wait until last minute and hit the roads along with everyone else.
 
I'd still rather be driving a gas powered vehicle than an electric car if I had to evacuate from somewhere.
27.gif
 
My recollection is that Florida turned down a free high speed train during the stimulus era (although I don't know if it would have been located in the needed location.) That was about the time Governor Christie cancelled the ARC tunnel. Everyone was in an austerity snit back then.

If you need to move a lot of people, there's no substitute for trains. That's not the main reason of course, but it's a reason and should be a real consideration in a hurricane prone place.
 
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