Ok, after watching Berger’s chat for two days running, let me put your evacuation decision in simple, easy to understand terms:

IF YOU DON’T LIVE EAST OF 288 AND SOUTH OF HWY 90 EAST, SIT THE FUCK DOWN!!!

Edit: See the link to the evacuation map below.

Your getting on the road is only going to make it impossible for the people who NEED to evacuate. Let me give you a simple statistic: Rita killed 7 people. The evacuation killed 50+! (Total indirect deaths for Rita = 120, including the 23 that died in the bus fire on I-45). Simply put, in one incident, the evacuation killed 3x the people that Rita did. And there’s no exact count (that I’ve found) but another 3-5x died in other incidents (Such as elderly parents dying in the heat after the family ran out of gas in 200-mile long traffic jams).

So if you evac unnecessarily, you’re placing yourself in danger, and you’re adding to the danger of everyone around you. Therefore let me repeat:

Sit. The. Fuck. Down. Gas up the vehicle, and don’t go.

The only reasons to evacuate is that you are in a surge zone, your home will come apart in a 100 mile-an-hour wind, or you live in a low-lying area that will flood over waist knee* high in your home from 5-10 inches of rain. Basically, if your home was built in the mid 80’s or later, you’ll withstand the wind. Might lose a few windows; board up if you can; do the ones on the south and east sides if that’s all you have wood for. Frankly, there isn’t enough lumber in all of Houston to board, well, all of Houston. (This is why we keep pre-cut pieces in our garage. They’re in the damn way all the time, but it’s worth it.) Don’t forget, there will be shelters in the city; you don’t have to move to Canada to avoid Ike. You can always get to know a few hundred of your neighbors to pass the time.

Water up. One gallon per day, per person minimum for drinking. You’ll need more if you plan on amenities like bathing and brushing teeth; you can fill the tub, sinks, pots, pans, etc. If we take a major hit, the water plants on the Ship Channel and San Jac River will be knocked out for days. (Note: Rita also damaged the Lake Livingston dam, necessitating emergency repairs. If it had failed, Bad Things would have happened to the city’s water supply.) And remember, if electricity is out, so is your A/C — you’ll need that water.

Afterwards, if your home is unlivable, then you can pack and get out, once the water goes down and the roads are cleared.

And if Ike stays well to the south of here, there’s no point in doing even that much.

Trusting forcasts
Houston Chronicle’s Preparation Guide
Damage by Category (note, because of the funneling effect of the bay, raise the surge estimate by one category if the hurricane passes anywhere over Freeport or the lower half of Galveston island.)
Evacuation Map
Should I stay or should I go?
Pets! (Gotta love the idiot in Eric’s chat who whined he didn’t want to bring his dog inside because of the carpet, and wanted to know if it would be safe to tie him to a tree in a 100 mph wind…you know, he had to be trolling.)
Flood plains?

Fun read: the “surprise hurricane” of 1943

*Waist was a bit much. Especially if you have small children! Anything under 8-10, I’d seriously consider evac’ing to a shelter.