Hurricane Harvey is a storm of Biblical proportions.
Texas – and especially Houston – is being pummeled by 50 inches of rainfall that is dumping 9 trillion tons of water causing massive property destruction and loss of life.
Now one Democrat’s career could be over because of his response.
Sylvester Turner is the Democratic Mayor of Houston.
Before Harvey hit, he twice stated there would be no evacuation order for Houston.
Please think twice before trying to leave Houston en masse. No evacuation orders have been issued for the city. #Harvey
— Sylvester Turner (@SylvesterTurner) August 25, 2017
Next stop tonight is #Fox26 with @isiahcareyFOX26. No evacuations, stay calm, look out for your neighbors. Get ready for #Harvey pic.twitter.com/ggNNDudXKy
— Sylvester Turner (@SylvesterTurner) August 25, 2017
Texas’ Governor Greg Abbott – a Republican – recommended an evacuation, but Houston officials did not agree.
Now many are wondering why the authorities did not evacuate the city.
Harvey was even stronger than predicted, but even the initial projections were for a massive storm.
Turner defended his decision by stating that evacuating Houston’s residents would have caused a logistical nightmare.
Heavy.com reports:
“Turner, a former Democratic legislator, defended the decision not to issue a mandatory evacuation order on August 27, even after the horrific scenes of flooding. “You literally cannot put 6.5 million people on the road,” Turner said in a press conference. “If you think the situation right now is bad, you give an order to evacuate, you are creating a nightmare.”
As for Abbott, he said Sunday that “now is not the time to second guess the decisions that were made,” and added that “he left several messages on Mr. Turner’s cellphone offering assistance, but hadn’t heard back,” The Wall Street Journal reported.”
But many Houston residents are furious because city officials worked for days to fight back against rumors that they knew the storm was going to be worse than expected and were withholding information from the public.
Heavy.com also reports:
“On August 24, Turner fired back at what he called unfounded rumors that had, in his words, “needlessly frightened” Houstonians, releasing a statement that read, “No evacuation orders have been issued for the city and none is being considered. Please continue to monitor mainstream news sources for updates on the weather and act accordingly as an informed resident. Rumors are nothing new, but the widespread use of social media has needlessly frightened many people today…
… Harris County’s emergency management office also tried to debunk what it called “false emails & FB posts” on August 24. The post it shared predicted 50 inches of rain (which experts are now also predicting) and 100,000 homes destroyed (it’s not clear how many homes are currently flooded in Houston).”
Turner is not alone in attracting criticism for his response to the storm.
Judge Ed Emmett – a Republican who oversees the city’s emergency response – also instructed residents to stay put.
Harris County Judge Ed Emmett on why he's not telling Houston residents to evacuate from #HurricaneHarvey despite Texas Governor's comment pic.twitter.com/3sQNCk5iV7
— Nomaan Merchant (@NomaanMerchant) August 25, 2017
We will keep you up to date on new developments in this story.
