There is really no way to avoid the evacuation mess, short of mandating that most businesses shut down five days out so people can get out earlier. I certainly can't see that happeneing. Contra-flow could have been initiated sooner. However, texas had never even had that in their plan for some reason. The logistics of evacuating that many people is an almost impossible task. Plus, in a normal storm situation, areas east may have been able to take more evac traffic; but that area is in no condition to support or handle what they are getting, let alone a full flow.

Short of starting contra-flow sooner, I am not sure how you can do things any better. You do have a lot of people levaing who probably don't need to; but you can't stop that from happeneing. Unless you are in a costal zone or an area that floods in bad weather, probably would have been best to return home yesterday and not risk running out of gas on the road.

As far as the storm, just time to play things out. Things seem to be looking better. I noticed that NHC is still forecasting one more intensification spurt. I can understand their reluctance to downgrade this system because that may lead some people who do need to evacuate to try to return unwisely. This thing is one wobble away from either Galveston bay or the Tx/LA line. Going to be a rough next few days. The flooding and attempted return of evacuees will be the next nightmare after the storm hits.