The Democrat Mayor of Houston, Texas, Sylvester Turner, is receiving criticism for refusing to give an evacuation order instructing citizens leave the city as horrific and historic Hurricane Harvey approached the city, devastating the area with over four feet of rain in some areas, more than the annual total of very rainy Seattle, WA, in a matter of hours.
On Thursday, August 24, Mayor Turner downplayed early predictions that he said have “needlessly frightened Houstonians.”
Ignore unfounded, unsourced weather predictions that have needlessly frightened Houstonians. Get info from trusted outlets. @HoustonOEM
— Sylvester Turner (@SylvesterTurner) August 24, 2017
Then, as late as Friday, August 25, Mayor Turner tweeted from his verified Twitter account, “Please think twice before trying to leave House en masse. No evacuation orders have been issued for the city. #Harvey.”
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
Contributor to The Hill, Kristin Tate, a Houston resident, told FOX News on Monday that Mayor Sylvester Turner “completely failed the city” for not advising citizens sto take the precautionary step of evacuating the area.
“He didn’t even call for a voluntary evacuation,” said Tate. “We were getting mixed messages.”
The mixed message Tate is most likely referring to is that Texas Governor Greg Abbott, despite the Houston mayor’s reckless statement, did encourage Houstonians to evacuate.
“Even if an evacuation order hasn’t been issued by your local official, if you’re in an area between Corpus Christi and Houston, you need to strongly consider evacuating,” Governor Abbott said on Friday.
RELATED: The 10 Most Horrific Sights from Tropical Storm/Hurricane Harvey’s Devastation of Houston
In response, a spokesman for the Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management sent the message that the Houston mayor knows best, by tweeting, “LOCAL LEADERS KNOW BEST, which may have lulled people into a false sense of security.
On Twitter, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner’s decision to not even declare a voluntary evacuation is receiving harsh critique:
How does @SylvesterTurner sleep? @Harvey @NWSHouston pic.twitter.com/12SiTjZOz2
— Bernadette (@DetteMason) August 27, 2017
Sir this decision has put lives of citizens in danger & now the lives of our emergency responders & national guard r threatened. #flood
— Courtney (@MS_CourtneyDawn) August 27, 2017
https://twitter.com/idle_sys/status/901323880899411968
https://twitter.com/tim_gorgol/status/901830613245800449
Ray Nagin was the former Democrat mayor of New Orleans and was the face of the city after Hurricane Katrina. He infamously left buses stranded that could have been used to evacuate people away from the devastating storm.
In 2014, Ray Nagin was sentenced to 10 years in prison, not for his irresponsible handling of the Katrina disaster, but for fraud, bribery and other related charges.
So Ray Nagin is mayor of Houston? #Harvey
— IleanaE. (@FilleGitane) August 27, 2017
Great job. The blood of 5 people are on your hands.
— John Stockton Jr. (@RichardCrahal) August 27, 2017
A parody Twitter account of Sean Spicer, “Sean Spicier” took the opportunity to note that Democrats are wrong about everything:
Good call by Houston's Mayor for telling everyone not to evacuate. Democrats are wrong about everything
— Sean Spicier (@sean_spicier) August 28, 2017
Join the conversation!
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, vulgarity, profanity, all caps, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain a courteous and useful public environment where we can engage in reasonable discourse.